snowangel

Kathy, rule of thumb is to never travel without buckets or bandaids. I've learned that lesson! We will head north to The Cabin\ in a week and a a half in search of early season crappies (they like hanging low in that cool water) and the men will take the shotguns and hunt for grouse. That far north, the autumn findings for vegetarians will be of the "press the leaves between sheets of waxed paper, using the iron you remember you own" variety. But, those seed will have been sown, and soon to be covered with snow, and next spring and summer, we will reap the bounty, providing that Mother Nature provides some sun and some rain.

Help needed. The nice fat bird (which was also a Susan in a former life; the place where I get these name their chickens) is 6.5 pounds. How long? How high? Not stuffed with anything other than herb sprigs and garlic.

I have these glasses, and believe it or not, after 2 years (and kids and granite countertops), not one has broken, and like the picture shows, they stack beautifully. (edited to correct link)

Dejah, whenever nuts are on sale, I stock up and store them in the freezer without a problem. Sealed container, of course.

Sunshine (maker of Hydrox) Lemon Coolers and Tostitos Hint of Jalapeno. Interesting about the latter than when I was at the local supermarket and the Frito-Lay guy was there stocking the shelves, he said he had received more negative comments about the discontinuance of that particular product than any he could remember.

Brooks, to my credit, I did not think cilantro or lime, nor did I think of swimming in 50 degree water, and shuddered when he mentioned canned mushrooms. 25 years later, I'm still wondering what I got myself into. My gumbo, even after a defrost was wonderful, and the teen pronounced it so. I've done at leat one thing right (she also shuddered at the mention of canned 'shrooms, which I'm sure have a place, I'm just not sure of the place).

I'm certain that there is, absolutely, some kind of penalty for this behavior. Eating this kind of thing is one thing, but bragging about it and encouraging others to emulate it, well, that's a horse of a different color. I think, from here on out, you should just stick to butts. You can keep defiling your food in the way that you seem so cheery about, just keep your curtains drawn and don't discuss it with the neighbors-much in the same manner that you would hide a wanted fugitive from the prying eyes of the neighbors and the long arm of the law. Thanks ← Whatever, Brooks. And, I'm going to swim in the lake on Wednesday night. The temp of the water is in the low 50's, but I'll be there, on my back in the silky smoothness of Up North Water. And, there will be fireflies. We will be fortified with beverages (!) and some noshes on the dock. And, I'm hoping to lime a bit of my gumbo when I next eat it! Sort of gumbo meets Khao Soi. ← Lime wedges and cilantro in gumbo? Swimming in 50 degree water? What are we to do with these yankees, Brooks? ← I bring to the table yet another horrow. It was cool and drizzley the other night, so I fetched a container of gumbo out of the freezer. As we sat eating it under the lights of the dining room, Paul (he reall is a dear, but remember, he was raised on Lutheran MN meals -- cream of whatever, scalloped potatoes with ham -- add cream of whatever soup as the glue -- and jello salads, so forgive him) said "I think you should have added canned mushrooms.

Over here, you'll note that Chris has a mess of bellies that need to be used up. I'd hope that he would not do all of them in Lop Yuk, but do some of them in a more traditional cure. Over on the Charcuterie topic, a mess of us have been making bacon. As an aside, at our most recent trip to The cabin, we stopped at F & D Meats in Virginia, and had some rathter odd bacons. First up was the brown sugar and cinnamon, next up the cajun. The first slice of the brown sugar and cinnamon was divine, every bit after that was cloying. We decided that cinnamon bacon is better either eaten simply by slice, or it would make a wonderful addition to a salad, or something. The cajun, on the other hand, in a BLT, was beyond belief. Sublime, with the hint of cajun combining perfectly with mayo and tomato and some crisp iceberg. Let's give Chris some ideas beyond just Lop Yuk.

Rochelle, I don't have a clue about cordless IB's, but one could use a cordless drill with a drywall mixer attached. Call if you want to borrow them. I did use them once as an IB. (Then I went out and bought an IB.)

Anna, if you are going to cook the sauce, cook the berries in a tiny bit of water and push the pulp through a sieve. That's what I do for raspberry syrup.

Are the chicken breasts you are buying from Costco the quick frozen ones? If so, then look there for fresh breasts -- the ones I get don't have salt. And, be careful with the pork butt. Much of the pork at a supermarket has been injected with some sort of solution that has a lot of salt in it. Same with turkeys. But, you can do a salt-free rub. Since you are slow roasting it, and if you season it with some other things, you should be OK. Quite frankly, a zero sodium diet is almost impossible since for many things, sodium is part of them. It's not an added ingredient, but just part and parcel of, let's say, milk; your milk doesn't have salt added. Even an egg has sodium, whether you add anything to it or not. Even raw vegetables have some sodium. You might want to hie thee to the library and check out some books.

Dan, welcome! Glad we enticed you over here. I can't answer you questions, but will make a request. Can you give us more details on your fridge and the modifications you made? Photos and instructions, please?

Half Price Books was a goldmine yesterday. I only came away with one book, but it was a signed (by St. Julia) first edition of Mastering for $6.98. A nice addition, especially since it's a book that I didn't own.

As everyone gets all hot about mashed potatoes, here are three topics to further seduce you to get out your mashers, ricers, food mills and put those kids to work! Mashed Potatoes. While you're at it, get out some grease, and grease up those madeleine pans and make some Potato Madeleines. Or, get out the muffin tins, make some gravy and go for Molten Masher Muffins. Elevate that potato. Hmmm. Madeleines or Moltens in pans brushed with duck fat...

I am just thinking after reading all of this that old arborio does indeed make great pie weights!

Beautiful, Ron! And, thanks for the tip on using the cheese knife. However, you disappoint in that you didn't photo your set up. I'm intrigued by the idea of using just a couple of embers on top of wood. This Kettle Queen is bound and determined that the Great Goddess of the North (my 25-year old Kettle) can cold smoke. Your endeavour is making me think it might just be possible. I've ordered two bellies from a guy at the farmer's market, which I won't get until a week plus, but I do know that it will be superlative pork.

Scrambled eggs cooked in a microwave doesn't sound pleasing to me They probably have some sort of corporate regulation on what they send out from the kitchen. Someone would probably get in real trouble if you were to get sick from the grilled cheese. Since it's not on the menu, the company probably doesn't want to make a habit of that because they have food costs budgets to meet every month. That's my guess anyways. ← I think what did it for us was the refusal of a chain to eliminate the chicken from a quesidilla. Which led me to believe that this was some frozen product. The waitress checked with the kitchen who checked with the manager who was unrelenting. So, we left without eating (but we did leave a tip for the waitress who really tried to make it happen for us) and found a mom and pop diner where they were more than happy to accommodate us. The diner didn't have crayons, but then again, that's not why we went out to eat!

As we eat out with the kids, it can be difficult. Due to Heidi's disabilities, chains are out. Just flat out. Due to oral motor limitations and the inability to make her eat what is available, we look for alternatives. Ask a chain restaurant or a fast food joint to make accommodations? Let's just say that the one time we asked at Mickey D's for a cheeseburger sans burger met with a "we can't do that." (Let's face it, they can eliminate the pickles, or the mustard, or the ketchup, or the onions; all we asked was that they held the burger). Ask at a place like TGIF's for scrambled eggs or a grilled cheese sandwich, and we are met with an "it's not on the menu." (so, do they not have cheese and bread?) However, at a non-chain restaurant, you ask for it, and they can usually do it, and they do it kindly, and, quite frankly, fawn over the one who needs her food cut up. Want a scrambled egg at a mom and pop joint when breakfast isn't an all day affair? Just ask. Want a grilled cheese or simply cheese between bread when it isn't on the menu? A simple bowl of cottage cheese? Want ranch dressing with something like french friesl than normally doesn't come with ranch dressing? "You got it. Hon." Heck, they'll even put their beverages in the preferred cup that you provide. Would Meg Ryan in "When Harry Met Sally" have been satisfied at a chain?

So sad, Shalmanese, about your Magnum! Lock up your good knives. DH decided it would be quicker to grab my favorite paring knife than go grab a screwdriver. A paring knife without a tip was the result, and not one that I was particularly happy with (especially since it didn't do the job, and he had to go to the garage to get a screwdriver anyway).

Abra, I've done ribs a ton of times, and have you thought about just doing them naked? No rub? Since there's not a lot of meat on ribs (or at least thick meat), we've decided we prefer the pure porky flavour.

Jeff, please do read the Food Safety with Cured or Smoked Meats and Charcuterie topics for more on this subject. More details on your projects, too!

The best we've ever had is from Schmitt's Meat Market in Nicollet, MN, because it's very simple. Just hand chopped Prime sirloin, with black pepper and finely diced onion. It's red. Traditionally served here on that rye "cocktail" bread or Tricuits. Oh, it is just wonderful.

Have to admit, it's not the first time I'm been accused of that! It does sound better than fanatical though. ← Halp! Meat curing is taking over my life. I think I am turning into a big sausage! ← Welcome, Wurst Case! Yes, this Charcuterie can take over your life. I'm just waiting until I've finished doing some home maintenance and getting the kids re-installed in school until I can get back to the job at hand -- stuffing and curing!

Welcome, Donna! Remember that larb is a very quite forgiving dish. Some prefer it limeier (???), some fish saucier (???), some hotter, some with more cilantro, etc. There are a couple of recipes in RecipeGullet, don't hesitate to experiment. It warms my heart that one of your very first posts has been on this topic!

Don't hesitate to use two burners for one pan, either. One on high, one on medium or low. Good luck. The best thing about our new house was that it had an electric stove that needed to be replaced immediately (only 1 burner worked, and it took the oven over 1.5 hours to heat to 350) and we found a nice capped off gas thing right below the oven -- it even had it's own turn off. But, you will adjust. It just takes a lot of time.