kayb

My pan is only about 9 inches, so I reduced the recipe by a third and ignored the shaping instructions. I have my own little way of shaping bread that works for me, so that's what I use any time I'm making a loaf, and, in modified form, a boule.

I REALLY like that recipe. Of course, it's the only pain de mie recipe I've tried.

I use the one from Rose Levy Beranbaum's Bread Bible.

Dinner tonight was homemade tomato soup I canned last summer, with grilled cheese sandwiches on pain de mie. Good stuff.

Don't know that you could call it an Atlanta food, but I had the absolute best braised pork shank (and one of the half-dozen best meals I've eaten in my life) at Murphy's Wine Shop in Atlanta. It was braised in cider, as nearly as I could tell, and had a marvelous sweet glaze brushed on it before it was let brown and crisp up.... Atlanta foods. Let's see. Chili dogs (for the historic Varsity Inn). Boiled peanuts (nasty things). Peach cobbler. Fried chicken, although that's ubiquitous everywhere in the South.

I've never thought of the Kroger I frequent as an upscale supermarket (I go there because (a) it's the closest to me, (b) it has a great deli and cheese section, and (c) the fuel reward points for gas), but there are some things I know I'm less likely to find there. F'rinstance, Wright's bacon packages ends and pieces in a three-pound bag that's only slightly higher than a 24-oz package of sliced bacon, and that's what I always buy when I'm going to make a batch of bacon jam. Same great taste, lots less expensive. I can ALWAYS find it in the smaller grocery, a local chain, in a part of town that's much more blue-collar and mixed ethnically. Ditto salt pork, when I've been looking for that. And when I took a craving for neckbones and dressing recently, the guy in the Kroger meat market sent me to that same store. "We don't sell 'em because nobody buys 'em." "My" Kroger is in one of the main business districts, within striking distance of several high-income neighborhoods, and also on the path from employment centers to the "burbs. All that said, surprisingly for a heavily agricultural in a heavily agricultural state, there is a REAL problem with food deserts in the Delta. The big reason, I think, is that the cropland is all given over to commodity row crops (cotton, wheat, soybeans, rice) and there's little vegetable growing going on. Likewise, there are long distances between towns, many of which are so small there is no grocery. I used to live in a town just 45 minutes from Memphis where now there is NO grocery store but for a small neighborhood market that ; the closest one is 25 minutes away in one direction or the other. There are lots of towns in worse shape than that, in the more remote stretches of the Delta. In some, there's not even a Dollar General or a convenience store, and any given house may be 35 miles from the nearest commercial establishment of any kind.

That looks quite interesting. A quick question about measurements: to what does "dag" and dac" equate? I would guess decagrams and decaliters, but thought I would ask to be sure. Also, any suggestions for a sub for Vegeta in the event I can't find it?

Judging from coastline variations and the Great Lakes, I'd say from upstate NY to northern Georgia. Interestingly, when I was visiting in western Virginia, I discovered they describe the mountains on the east side of the Shenandoah Valley (the "Blue Ridge,") as part of the Alleghenies, while the Appalachians are the mountains west of the valley. I always thought the Alleghenies were further north.

I would expect to find grits wherever corn was grown. Not much wheat was grown in Appalachia, thus grits, cornbread, corncake, cornmeal mush. Flour, when it was bought, came from the store. I didn't grow up in Appalachia -- I grew up in rural West Tennessee. But my forebears who settled there came from Appalachia, and brought their foods and traditions with them. I've seen quilts in Appalachian museums and shops that are identical patterns to the ones my grandmother and mother quilted. Foods changed a bit due to what was available and what grew where; not a lot of catfish in the Appalachian rivers, for example, but squirrel and dumplings, I'd venture, are damn near identical in both cultures. Likewise lots of pork dishes, and game birds, with the exception of ducks. Beef is probably more common in W.Tenn. culture than it was in Appalachia due to a greater access to grazing land. The Foxfire books are probably the best reference of which I'm aware to Appalachian life and foodways.

Welcome, near--neighbor, from northeast Arkansas. What part of Kentucky? Spent a good deal of time in the Mayfield/South Fulton/Murray area. Grew up in TN not far from the KY line.

Amen!

Interesting, and there's a lot of truth to it. I'm fortunate, because I work at home, so I have the luxury of stopping for 15 minutes and putting something in the oven or on the stove. I also bridge the gap between the big, midday meals and the both-parents-working, hurry-up-and-feed-the-kids-so-we-can-get-to-the-ballpark. I learned to cook a lot of things I could get ready in a hurry that would still be somewhat nutritious and not too processed. We ate a lot of BLTs, and chicken pot pies, and quiches (which I'd make the night before). I made great use of my crock pot and oven timer. I have taught several times a "Cooking Matters" class that is designed to teach folks how to cook a nutritious meal on a SNAP budget. The teachers' material warns us to be aware our students may not have access to a wide variety of kitchen equipment, nor may they know how to do basic prep -- i.e., soak and cook dried beans. As far as preparing meals-to-go that can easily be reheated -- the soup kitchen where I volunteer offers carryouts, and most of our guests leave with one. A good many of our guests are homeless, so they're not even reheating, but at least they're not hungry.

How about Hello Dolly bars? Graham crust, chocolate chips, chopped nuts, drizzled condensed milk, flaked coconut. You can vary with different chips, dried fruit, adding peanut butter into the condensed milk, etc. I won't be doing anything exceptional. Game comes sandwiched between two out of town trips for me, so I'll likely watch it, or have it on while I'm reading, alone while doing laundry.

The term for the device with which one opens this sort of bottle is "church key."

Counterclockwise from 12 o'clock, St Andre, Robusto, Jarlsberg, High Plains Cheddar, Welsh cheddar, sweet gherkins, preserved walnuts, Castelvetrano olives, capicolla, salami. The fruit of going to the grocery yesterday when I was hungry.

@rotuts Oddly enough, I read this no more than 20 minutes after I pulled a pack of Broadbent's ham seasoning pieces out of the freezer to thaw. Beans tonight! Had not thought about grinding up bacon end pieces to go in meat loaf. Great idea. I'll be trying that. For sliced ham, I've taken to ordering their breakfast steaks and biscuit pieces. Dinner steaks and center-cut slices are just too big.

Awaiting anxiously. I'll be in the Lou May 24, and counting on a dinner there then!

Ooohh. I bet it'd be good on pork tenderloin. And I have three in the freezer, as they were on sale at Aldi t'other day. My grocery carries a balsamic "glaze" as well as balsamic vinegar. The glaze appears to be a reduced, heavy syrup.

SOS. I love it. Mama used to get little glass jars of dried beef, and she'd make white sauce, shred the beef and stir it in. We would eat it over toast or over mashed potatoes.

The best fast food cheeseburger I've had in ages came from a local chain, David's Burgers, which I think has six or eight locations in Arkansas. They grind their own meat, cut their own fries, and your choices are single, double, triple, with or without cheese, and that's it. They have a great list of condiments including sauteed mushroom and caramelized onions, in addition to all the standards. The fries are a little limp; they'd benefit from a soak in ice water before frying, and the double-fry method, but the burgers are wonderful. I've had In and Out; not too bad. Five Guys is OK, but just barely. Have not had Shake Shack. None of the lower-end burger chains are fit to eat (I tried a Dairy Queen burger t'other day and pitched three quarters of it). But the best burger in the world was made in a little hole in the wall place, the Dairy Freeze, in northwestern Arkansas, in a little wide spot in the road called Hiwassee. Marvelous, hand-patted, flat-top-grilled patties, a big slab of cheese, bacon if you wanted it, ALL the trimmings, buns grilled toasty on the flat top. I once called that place and asked if they'd stay open an hour past closing so Bill Clinton could get a cheeseburger. They told me they wouldn't stay open, but they'd unlock and let us in and cook for us. He swore it was the best cheeseburger he'd ever eaten, and the man loved his cheeseburgers.

I will be trying this, but I'll roast my broccoli instead of steaming, because I just like it better. I bet it would also be killer on sauteed Brussels sprouts, or roasted cauliflower.

I could spend some serious money in that deli. Enjoying this trip!

Re: Ornamental edibles. I have a flower bed (raised, brick border) that goes across half of the front of my house (from carport to front stoop). It is my herb garden. Mid to late afternoon often finds me out there harvesting herbs to go in dinner. I grow mint, summer savory, oregano, thyme, basil, sage, chives, cilantro and parsley. The cilantro and parsley are just to the sorth side of the stoop, which is elevated five steps and affords them a little more shade (front of house faces west), so they take a bit longer to bolt. My big mistake was planting mint in the bed. It will be a mint bed in two or three years. I just KNEW tomatoes were smart! Going to attempt nasturtiums after I move and get new garden beds set up. I have had "pickled" nasturtium flowers, which I think were just tossed in a very light viniagrette, with steak tartare, and they were marvelous.

I saved that one, too. Thanks! @Darienne, I have read that you can sub fresh chives or thyme for dill. Have never tried it. Seems reasonable it would work.

Sometime last year, I bought a little "baby" Pullman pan (only about 7 1/2 inches long, and so an excellent size for me) when I caught it on sale at Amazon. Yesterday, I decided to use it. I used the recipe from Rose Levy Berenbaum's Bread Bible. I am VERY pleased with the way it turned out. Great, soft crumb. Good, rich flavor. (I may have undersalted just a tad.) I was somewhat surprised it took 50 minutess at 425 to bake, but it was perfect at that time/temp. And it was marvelous for a childhood throwback treat for breakfast this morning: Cinnamon toast, sans cinnamon. Just butter and sugar. I see a Croque Madame in my immediate future.