snowangel

That grey stuff is (for lack of a better word) fat, and in most North American fresh water salmon, trout, etc. is best scraped off because it is reported that it can be a repository for contaminates that occur in the water. Where was the salmon caught? What kind was it?

I've never had an apron with a pocket, but I'd sure like to see more of your apron (even a better description of the method) using tea towels. I just inherited like a bazillion of them... Edited to add: One thing about pockets is you have to remember to empty them before you pitch the item in the washer.

I had a most spectacular birthday, and for reasons on which I will elaborate, one I will never, ever forget. It was four women, my best friend and I, and our two eldest daughters (15 and 16), and a perfect mix. Kate and Diana get along like peas in a pod, and Susan and I, well, we joke about getting old together, and spending our twilight years sitting on a front stoop in rockers. We left Tuesday, an absolutely stifling, scorching day, in an aging Yukon, with no A/C. Windows open, sunglasses on, wearing tanks and shorts. In the days when we were in college, we'd have been in a Bug wearing tube tops. We stopped at Gordy's High Hat in Cloquet, which seemed miraculously cool at 87 degrees, for a quick burger and bottles of water, then off to the cabin, with a quick stop at Zup's in Cook for milk, ice, eggs, trashy magazines for the girls, and lo and behold (this one's for you, Steve), they carry Fraboni's bacon! (More on that later). Then, to the cabin. What an oven that was. Fridge on, vehicle unloaded, and a bottle of white that had been in ice in the cooler uncorked, but not before the swim suits went on. Hotter than blazes, high humidity, but oh, that water. The layers, like a jello salad. Warm, not so warm, cool, and refreshing. When I went in to check on the progress of the fridge cool-down, I started a Toddy of coffee for iced coffee. I love my Toddy. Dinner was brie and baguettes, carrots, tapenade, whatever we felt like eating. Whole Paycheck sells some par-baked baguettes (read take and bake) that are actually very good, so we brought one for each day. Breakfast day 2 for me (the girls had Lucky Charms) after my amuse of granola with half and half was goat cheese on flat bread. No, that's not pepper on the counter, it is lovely formica. We basically munched our way through the day. This salami was particularly NOT noteworthy. Required a lot of extra cracked black pepper. We did not eat a "real" dinner, but chose to continue to munch. Note that so far, the only cooking we've done is to bake two baguettes -- basically heat up the oven and stick them in. Sometime in the afternoon, the girls made some facial concoctions. One mask with avocado, honey, cream and mashed carrots. It did feel good. We did cuke slices on our eyes with cold compresses on top. And some cucumber eye gel that they also concocted. Girls with cukes on their eyes. I found the wash cloth claustrophobic. Oh, wait, at some point on Wednesday, Susan hardcooked some eggs and cooked some green beans. We thought we might want viniagaretty green beans and perhaps deviled eggs. My 50th. I grabbed my iced coffee, donned a pareo, and went to lay on the dock. What's not to love? The girls had run into town for frozen Chicken Kiev's and pizza rolls (a vehicle and keys burn holes in their pockets). We also had them pick up ice, and they brought back a block of ice, but no worries. I can wield a hammer with the best of them. Susan baked some bacon for our picnic on Friday on the way home. For an early dinner, Susan and I made Salads: Yes, canned tuna in olive oil and I did also remember anchovies. And shared a bottle of this: The girls had also bought a cake mix and canned frosting for cupcakes. They were OK. And, somewhere along the lines, we sliced some tomatoes, fresh mozz, and tore the basil, drizzled some balsamic and olive oil. A nice snack. It was another lovely week at the cabin, this one punctuated by lots of moments of doing nothing but looking at the lake, reading (I read two novels!), listening to KAXE, talking and napping. But, to another important event. I call Paul every night when I'm up at the cabin. He's pretty insistent on that. Wednesday night, I kept getting "all signals are busy," but then, the call went through. Him: "Have you heard the news?" Me (blighfully): "Well, yes, we heard the phrenology report, the butterfly lady was on, and there was some guy on talking about butterflies. And, oh, the postman called in with a gardening report from his route." Paul: "No, I mean The News." Me: "What are you talking about?" Paul: "You might want to turn to the MPR news station. The bridge over the Mighty Miss on Interstate 35W collapsed." Now, what makes this so interesting is that when I was growing up, my mom talked about how all of their news was over the radio, and often they actually ate dinner with the radio on. And, how, the memories of what you ate would stay with you forever when associated with a Big Event. And, as I went back into the cabin, after turning to MPR, and listening to the news, I remembered her saying this. I'll remember always smearing the goat cheese on yet another piece of flatbread and opening a bottle of white the night before my 50th, and remember the crunch and tang and cool when I am reminded about this event in years to come. (As an aside, everyone I know is fine, and it sure seems that the cost in human life is remarkably low, and I thank everyone for their kind and thoughtful PM's). Then, I hearkened back to hearing that Princess Diana had died. I was sitting in the corner on the deck, having a vodka tonic, eating Eichten's tilsit with tart green apples. When JKF Jr. was reported missing, I was sitting in the same place, but we were having pate on baguettes. The list goes on. And, the radio is a unique medium for disseminating the messages. The news is delivered orally, with no visuals, and is not nearly as "staccato." Instead of 30 second interviews, they go on for quarters of hours. But, to return to the nuts and bolts of my trip. We left on Friday morning. Another quick breakfast of cereal, whatever was leftover and appealing. I baked four of Trader Joe's take and bake ciabattini's, and packed he lettuce and mayo at the top of the cooler. The bacon, foil wrapped, has been warmed in the oven enough to take off the chill. I remember a knife, paper napkins and a paper plate for slicing tomatoes. The goal was a picnic at the Wellstone Memorial Park, located just outside Eveleth. It is a beautiful, zen-like spot. Nice and cool, very peaceful. And, we had BLT's sitting on a cool granite bench. If you're in the area, think picnic there. Then, we were off just down the road to pick Peter up from 2 weeks at camp. Then home, where, for the first time in 8 weeks, the five of us were together. I came home relaxed and refreshed. I swam and swam and swam, and the last thing I did every night is what I do every night. Shed the clothes, and go for a dip in the lake, under the milky way and the stars, and watch the Big Dipper move across the sky. And, like I do every time I get out of the water, I pronounce it "the best swim of my life." We return on Monday with my folks, sister/husband/daughter in tow. Paul and the kids will be with me.

Chris, any idea what percentage of the tables at the restaurant order the Pu Pu Platters? Do they offer just one on the menu, or are there a variety of different Pu Pu Platters? Can you customize them?

Monday, August 13 we head across the ocean. Any guesses or do you need another clue?

Paul and I were just talking about Pu Pu Platters, and outside of one (now defunct) restaurant here in the Twin Cities, it's not something that is on the menus at Chinese restaurants. Anyone else in the Midwest want to comment?

And, then there is the discussion of The Big Yellow Bowl on Lori in PA's blog.

If I'm using fresh eggs, I've had good luck by poking a pin into one end of the egg -- it does seem to make them easier to peel.

Ah. The memories. My kids, uber-cool as The Teen thinks herself, still craves that space, and knows, like me, that she is the luckiest of all. Our bags are packed, we're ready to go. It will be hot tomorrow, and our suits are hanging on a lawn chair on the screen porch, ready to don just as soon as we get the fridge started. As she said "Mom, you're going to turn 50. Let's head north, and let's look at the stars and the moon."

One more catch-up post. We left town on Friday, July 20, early am, to pick The Teen up from camp. She'd been gone for 5 weeks ( ). We got a later than normal start, fortified only with Cheereo's, and since we figured we'd be late picking her up, we didn't stop for additional nourishment on the way up (i.e. Gordy's High Hat in Cloquet for burgers). We didn't realize that The Other Teens and her would spend an hour crying on the lawn about leaving camp. So, as we approached The Lake, we were mighty hungry, when The Trusty Bronco started pulling mightily to one side. Our first flat tire with the Trusty Beast (circa 1992) ever. It was a bitch. It was hot, buggy, and the road was dusty. And, given the amount of crap we knew that The Teen would load into the Beast, it was our first trip up ever without the tool box. You know something, rocks do not make effective screwdrivers. And, endless vehicles passed, not slowing down, and simply spraying us with dust as Paul proceeded with the primitive screwdriver. Alas, luck would sort of be with us, and someone stopped who had a pliers (in back pocket). Turns out, in-laws of a good friend, and while he and Paul unleashed the jack and other assorted equipment from underneath the hood of the Beast, I asked her how the blueberries were. Luck would have it that the picking was as fine as it has been in years. Oh, let me add that on the way up from Eveleth, we had stopped in Virginia at F & D Meats for more of their fine sausages. So, first order of business when we arrived was to start the fridge and the grill, and while that was cooling/heating (respectively), we had a quick dip and then some mighty fine jalapeno brats. Oh, and to make things right, some sliced tomatoes. During this fine meal, Paul informed me that Ron, a friend of his since jr. high and of mine since sophmore year in college, would be coming up. Daylight was waning, and Ron showed up. He was really pushing daylight, and his landing was sort of by touch, but seamless: Over the rest of dinner, Paul pulled out The Gold. He had printed, off Google Earth, a map of the area, and he and Ron proceeded to pour over it, bound and determined to find a new blueberry hill. So, Saturday morning (actually rather late, due to hangovers), Ron, Paul, Peter and Ron's son and I head out. That new hill they spotted was a bumpy drive (there's a reason we have the Bronco), and after 45 minutes, this is MY take: A blurry shot of an almost full 5-quart ice cream pail. The berries were indeed the best they have been in years and years. Saturday night was chicken on the grill, sweet corn, 'maters and green beans. Sunday morning it was sausages and my waffles (thanks to a stovetop waffle maker). Lunches simple and plain with sliced deli meat, squishy bread and cheese, along with farmer's market cukes, carrots, etc. One dinner was BLT's: (obligatory counter shot to show you just how little we have): The mayo was homemade, and I couldn't remember quite how to make it, and it never quite thickened up. The BLT's were on Trader Joe's take and bake Ciabattini's (wonder, BTW), so Diana used the rest of the mayo the next day, on the last of the ciabattini's for a bastardized eggs benny: We got Peter safely to camp (down to two kids again!), and we returned to the cabin. Monday morning dawned sunny and bright. Hot, sunny, with no wind. The lake bloomed. But, that didn't stop us from a final swim and look at the lake. It was an unbelievably beautiful weekend. Hot and sunny, with very cool nights (good sleeping weather). Not a sole on the lake. The only noises were the birds (lots of cedar waxwings) and the bugs humming in the woods at night. Once again, I had my late night swim every night, under the endless stars and the Milky Way. I return to the Cabin tomorrow to celebrate a Big Birthday. I can't wait.

Plug for Maxwell Street Market... This one just might pry us away from the Cabin in the summer.

More on The Pleasures of Cooking,,,Potato Madeleines.

Crack one on a pizza right before you stick it in the oven, or, if you're worried that it will overcook, let the pizza cook a bit, then top it with the egg.

A church cookbook that has a Jello salad recipe that calls for canned cherry pie filling, lemon Jello, a can of canned pineapple bits and (yes, this is true), a can of drained, sliced green olives with pimento stuffing. And, to think that I even packed the thing and moved it when we relocated!

Seeing this topic pop to the top reminds me of the eG Cook-Off: Crepes, where many of us who had never made crepes stumbled through our first batches of crepes!

Chris, did you dump the cubes in loose? When I brined two turkeys in the cooler, I put some of the ice in loose, and a whole mess of it went into four ziplocks -- which kept it colder. My basement was pretty warm, too, when I did it, and the loose cubes all melted, but there hadn't been nearly as much melt with the masses of cubes in bags.

I stuck it in the fridge because I made it the day ahead for an event!

Chris, like Tracey, I wouldn't worry about it. You're going to bring the temp way high when you smoke it. Cool it, give it a go in the freezer, and smoke. This, of course, is assuming it doesn't smell icky, but I doubt that it spent that long warm. Makes me wonder what the internal temp is of a butt that's been in brine in the fridge. Hmmm.

On Monday, July 30, we move to another country. What is this? Where was it purchased. From whence will our next blogger blog? Who is s/he?

Let's fast forward to mid June. Sometimes, it seems that every trip is fraught with some foible or another. And, when you are in the middle of no-where, it is different. We realized when we got to the cabin that no one had paid any attention to my instructions to "get everything from the top of the stairs." So, Paul's bathing suit, Heidi's epilepsy drugs and my camera were the casualties. Thankfully, cell phones were working, so my mom came to our house (she has a key!), and overnighted the meds and suit (I didn't want to risk the camera, nor the EVOO). This was a truly wonderful weekend. It was wet enough that there was dew in the morning, the grass had grown, and the lake had returned to normal levels. Since my camera was forgotten, no pics. As usual, we ate well (brats from F & D Meats in Virginia, burgers, salads, brie and baguettes, mojitos, Lucky Charms, steaks, iced coffee, wine, etc., etc.), and most of all, spent time sitting on the deck, frolicking in the water. We skinny-dipped under the Milky Way, and fell asleep every night to literally no noise, other than the bugs humming in the woods behind the cabin. We did no fishing, but mostly because the few boats on the lake were merely buzzing around, not sitting and gitting. The bugs, however, were pretty interesting. An awful amount of biting gnats, which have a penchant for the hairline and ankles, but I can't recall the last time we've seen so many butterflies and dragonflies. And, fireflies that lit up the woods. The weather was spectacular. The plans were (we arrived on Thursday) to leave on Sunday morning and drop the teen off at Half Moon Lake for 5 weeks at camp ( ), and the weather cooperated. We woke Sunday morning to brilliant sun, which allowed for a cuppa on the dock and a quick dip before the skies clouded over, and as we shut the tailgate on the Trusty Bronco (circa 1990), the first of the rain fell. We beat feet to get Diana to camp early and drove almost 400 miles to get Heidi to camp in Annandale, MN by 3:30 pm. Breakfast was cold cereal; lunch was sliders and onion chips -- purchased in Hinkley and eaten on the road. One thing that's happened as I've gotten older is that I now get car sick if I eat in the car, so we had one unscheduled stop at the top of a freeway exit ramp for an "unfortate reversal." Ah, memories. We left thinking we'd get back up there before late July, but things sorta interfered. But, as I sat at the end of the dock on Sunday morning, then dove in and have a most glorious swim, I was once again reminded that I am indeed the luckiest woman in the world, bug bites and all.

Yep, although we are often wont to do them over the gas stove because we don't have a good fire pit, but yes, the burning bans even made us bring the bag of used toilet paper home in the trash, instead of burning it like we normally do (yes, that is food related!). I like my marshmallows charred, and I eat them plain, not ala "s'more" -- just too sweet for my non-sweet tooth.

I finally dug out the photos from our first trip to the cabin in May. As always, it was wonderful to be back up in heaven, although the water in the lake was lower than we've ever seen, and it was unbelievably dry. Normally when we're up in May, it is wet enough that we can literally hear the water running in the ground. The weather on this trip was outstanding, and we got the dock in. I got a pair of waders for Mother's Day, which made putting the dock in a lot more comfortable. But, true to form, I did a full-body in the water (48 degrees) and washed my hair! A few notes: Those peanuts from Trader Joe's are really good. Whole Paycheck's olives and ttapenade suck -- they seem watered down. Martinis are wonderful out on the deck. Can anyone guess what is in the last photo? And, there really is nothing like being up there. It is so quiet. The star display is better than that in a planetarium. We have only been up twice since -- once in June (no photos; forgot the camera) and this past weekend (photos to come), but have two trips planned back to back in the next couple of weeks, and perhaps another one in August before Labor Day.

Bruce has his eternal cucumbers, and for two months out of the year, I have essential sweet corn. We've been eating it six nights a week (my family has begged for a night off every week -- they call it colon recovery ). Usually with something off the grill, or a plate of tomatoes and mozz, or a stir fry and rice (fusion). But tonight, for me, it was simply corn and butter. I splurged on some butter from France from Whole Paycheck: Although this butter is really, really good (and the fleur de sel is a wonderful addition), I think I prefer Hope Butter, a local butter that is cultured and with a bit of tang to offset the sweetness of the corn. My, do I love July and August.

I made my favorite cold noodle dish today -- Orchid's Cool and Tangy Noodles from Barbara Tropp's Modern Art of Chinese Cooking. This is a very simple noodle dish, using very few ingredients. It is indeed cool and tangy, and does have a nice kick to it. Bonus is that it's a great potluck dish since it is much better actually at room temp! A blurry shot of the ingredients: Black soy sauce, Chinese vinegar, sesame oil, chili oil, green onions and noodles. Not shown in this picture is the little bit of sugar and kosher salt. All mixed up and ready to put in the fridge (this dish is best made ahead of time); I had some this afternoon as a late afternoon snack, and know what I'll be having for breakfast in the morning.

Jamie, I've never seen any shrimp at my local Asian market that didn't have heads on them! I'm not sure what you're aiming for, but if you mosey on over to Ah Leung's Chinese Food pictorials, you see some good ideas of Chinese things to do with these beauties, and several of the dishes are actually cooked with the heads and shells on (great flavour). But, if you go down to the Imperial Shrimp dish, he gives some nice instructions on how to peel and head these babies, but if you do so, remember to save the shells to make a stock. Shrimp stock is good to have in the freezer, and is very quick to make (you don't cook it for a long time). Another direction, if you are craving Asian, would be a nice Thai Tom Yum Koong.