snowangel

Sometime in the next week or two, I'll be meeting a friend at the Brewery Creek Garden Center to do some shopping for our gardens -- perennials, herbs, and for me, tomatoes. A quick perusal of their list of tomato varieties is leaving my head spinning. I will have five plants, and these will be for eating fresh, not for "putting up." Anyone have any favorites among the ones listed?

Steven, you might want to think about this recipe, which several people reported on in the Dinner! topic with good results. The kids and I are going to some experimenting later this week or this weekend, because we need some fast and easy meals for a couple of weeknights a week (spring sports will start to interfere with dinner time because of Paul's arrival time home from work). But, I'm wondering. Do you freeze the fingers uncooked, or precooked?

I'm back sooner than I thought with a teaser. I'd imagine you can guess where the blogger is from, but not who it is!

Ah, you'll see a teaser for a new blog tomorrow!

Smoking to commense here, soon. We're going to have a 13th birthday party in May, and I'm debating between brisket or butt, but wondering about doing a butt for no reason other than it is like manna!

Well, there's always this approach (originally used by my daughter on some applewood):

I've done the CSA, and I now do the farmer's market. Piggy-backing on what Steven said about Chinatown, etc., I am lucky to live in an area that has a huge Hmong population, and my, oh my, have they upped the bar at the farmer's market. Their produce is spectactular, clean and well presented. But, for me, the farmer's market is convenient. There is a a branch of a huge Twin Cities farmer's market that is in my neighborhood every Tuesday, which is my typical grocery shopping day, and it is only a mile (round trip) out of my way. What I like about the farmer's market instead of the CSA is the connection with both shoppers and the marketers. The Hmong lady at the end of the farmer's market knows that I am queer for cilantro roots, so she saves some for me. I guess part of it is that the CSA is not nearly as convenient for pickup, so I'm more in a rush. But, more important, I want to fondle the greens, and decide just what I want. For example, i have a bit thing about spinach. We love it. And, we really, really love the more mature crinkely green stuff, not the baby spinach. I have developed relationships with the folks at my local farmer's market, and Karen always makes sure that there are three or four bunches, when it is in season, tucked under the counter, with my name on it. I have the luxury of doing this, but for me, even when I worked full-time, it was about getting up at 5:00 am one day every week to get to the farmer's market to find those perfect radishes, that young garlic, and the prettiest green beans.

Ok, there's a story here. I have a narrow and very deep pantry, and we just built drawers and installed them on runners. Installing them was a PITA, since, naturally, nothing in a house is square. But, they are in, and they are beautiful. And, oh so functional that they have spoiled me. I did finish the drawers with glossy varnish, and I did find some shelf paper that I had that does stick (it must be old!), so I opted for that. Now, I'm unhappy with two of my cabinets, and am thinking that if I beg and plead nicely, hubby will build drawers for each of those under-counter cabinets. The current shelves are of some pressboard variety that have bowed under the weight of what's on them, and they need replacing, and I'm thinking that if we're going to hack up more of the plywood (1/2") we have, we'd just as well spring for the runners and make it really useful and current (and make the mom really happy; these are deep as well, and unloading what's in front to get at what's in back makes the mom crabby). So, my question, Arne, is should I forgo finishing the drawers that my husband will craft and we will install in favour of melamine paint? (We have a LOT of birch plywood in our inventory, so I don't want to buy something specific for this project other than runners and screws.)

Jennifer, is LifeLiner the ribbed stuff? Even though it is pricier, if it's that easy to wash, and won't wear out, that might be the way for me to go.

OK. So, I've got these awful particle board cupboard shelves. We are gradually (acutally, not so gradually, now that I'm on a mission) replacing them with lovely birch plywood. I've always used shelf liner paper, but the new stuff is awful. It either doesn't stick, or stuff (like cans and plates, etc.) sticks to it, and oil and syrup absorbs into it. Remember, I have little kids, and I need to be able to clean off the spills, broken glass, etc. So, should I be using some sort of Con-Tact type paper, or should I be applying a really hard finish to the shelves? In terms of finish, I'm rather partial to shellac (applies easily, can apply coats in rapid succession), or is some sort of non-absorbent shelf liner paper more appropriate? Remember, I have kids, and they spill and break. Cushiony, absorbent and difficult to clean need not apply.

Jennifer, a mess o questions: Do you garden? If so what edibles do you grow? What's available locally that's really fresh at this time of year? Pie (cherry) and anything lemon is good. Outside of the occasional pie (which makes for a very healtful breakfast, if you consider the fruit), do you bake much at home? Oh, and thanks for remembering the Cheese Board for me. When Diana was but a babe (she's now 16), she a I visited my sister regularly in Berkeley, to the tune of three or four times a year. Every morning, I'd strap Diana in the front pack, and my niece in the back pack, and we'd head to the Cheese Board for raisin brioche. Interesting thing is that they weigh them for the price -- it's not a per item item, but weighed! Oh, and every time we come home from Berkeley, the meal on the plane is cheese from the Cheese Board, bread from Acme, and some sort of fruit from either Berkeley Bowl (which I do remember from their bowling alley days) or Monterey Market. And, people drool over our "airplane food."

Yes on both counts -- weight loss and some parts shredding more easily than others. I always make it a point to smoke more than we can possibly eat. Leftover butt (it freezes well) makes terrific leftovers for everything from posole to tortilla or tamale filling. Thanks for buming this up. The snow is finally gone, and it's starting to feel like spring. And, in the spring, this girl's fancy turns to thoughts of low and slow smoking and butts!

Yes, the brew meister could keep us company in your absense! I have many questions, which will wait until I finish doing our taxes tonight!

With the leftover sauce -- surely the husband can slow grill some ribs and baste them with the sauce? While grilling, perhaps toss on a wood chunck or two? All you need is some nice fatty spare ribs and a low and slow fire...

I'm exhausted just reading about your day! Tell me more about the cannele, something I'm not familiar with. What does the wax do? They sound like a real PITA. Up topic, you mentioned a Thai market in Berkeley. We get there every couple of years to visit my sister and I'm enamoured with Acme Bakery and Monterrey Market (both very close to my sister's house) as well as Berkeley Bowl. Comments on Acme bread?

My understanding is that char siu bao are doughy buns stuffed with Chinese barbeque-flavored roasted pork (char siu), usually with no soup involved; whereas xiao long bao are dumplings made with flat dough wrappers wrapped around a filling of meat and gelatinized broth. Char siu bao Xiao long bao The trick with the soup is that the (cold) gelatinized broth liquefies when the xiao long bao are steamed, producing the mouthful of soup that gushes into one's mouth when one eats these. (The other trick, according to mmm-yoso, is getting the amount of gelatin and meat filling, and the seal on the wrapping, just right so that the dumplings don't leak or burst while being cooked.) ← Reminder, if you go to the Cook-offs you'll note that II is the buns and XXVI is Soup Dumplings!

Bruce, if I were looking for "stew meat" for a braise, I'd get myself a chuck roast, and whack it up myself into appropriate sized chunks. Right amount of everything good, especially flavour!

Bruce, as we've discussed at length on the Braising with Molly topic, most braising recipes call for too high an oven temp. I think it was in a book of Paula Wolfert's that I read about braising at an oven temp equivalent to the internal temp you intend to take the meat to. If you want the meat to go to 200 degrees, cook it at that temp. I'll have to dig out the reference. Edited to add: what cut of beef did you use, Bruce?

Posole!

Jennifer, you'll note that my last blogs have been filled with disaster, and we've had take-out at least once or twice! Minneapolis in May when it did nothing but rain and it was a smoking and grilling blog? Anything but exotic. I quite frankly think that the Bay Area is exotic! You mentioned earlier that you didn't larb in your Thai food class. You can click here and find out more about love and making of larb than you ever thought necessary. There are also some recipes in RecipeGullet. Larb is one of the easiest and most forgiving foods there is (also makes for a great breakfast).

Jennifer, I agree about curry as comfort food. I also think the leftovers make the best breakfast possible, so I always make lots more than we can eat for one meal. And, we use the same brands of things! I have made my own curry paste on occasion, but it is a real time commitment. Have you ever made your own paste? What other Thai dishes did you learn in the class?

Cubano sandwiches, panini, frittata, omelets, eggs benedict. In a creamy sauce, or minimally cooked tomato sauce for pasta. Straight out of the fridge (with the door open).

Bruce, this looks wonderful. I am contemplating this book. Any immediate reactions after a good read-through and an initial meal (and I assume at least a taste of Tuesday night's dinner)?

Steven, if you want pretty, look here. And, yes to diapers. I have two kinds -- the single layer bird's eye cloth (which are great for drying dishes and dusting, and the ones that have the "padding" in a strip down the middle. The latter are super absorbent. I have actually had to go out and buy diapers because the ones I had were trashed (my kids wore cloth).

Steven, in theory this is a great idea, but with so many kitchen towels as cheap as they are, why bother? For one thing, most fabric iin fabric stores is of too tight a weave to be very absorbent. Just about the cheapest I ever see fabric (remnants) is $.99/yard. So, figuring that you can get four towels out of a yard, that makes them $.25/each. And, this assumes you can find something appropriate for $.99/yard. Then, you have to hem them, or your laundry is going to be filled with fraying towel strands. Press each edge over twice, then sew. That takes time. I'd rather be cooking! The trick, as alamoana says, is to buy them in bulk at warehouses, or look at places like TJ Maxx right after a holiday, and they'll have the "holiday" towels marked way, way down.