kayb

Pam -- I have a single 29-year-old daughter....maybe we can get something working here? Your story reminds me of when my girls were small and loved "Grandpa pickles," sour/dill/hot pickles my mother made and canned every summer because my father loved them. For a couple of years after he died, I doled out jars of "Grandpa pickles" on birthdays, and it was a sad day when they were all gone. I raised my kids on tuna-noodle casserole, chicken pot pie, and BLTs, all things that could be cooked and served in that interim between work and ballgames, or ballgames and bed. And pot roast. They love Mama's pot roast to this day.

Stunning. I have no words. And it's all gorgeous.

I made sherried tomato-basil soup last weekend, and a big pot of red beans and rice (for which the rice never got made) during the week. Both fall favorites.

Stuff them with a mix of chopped fresh cranberries, fresh apple, and walnuts or pecans. Baste with a brandy-brown sugar glaze about five minutes before you take them out of the oven.

"Rethermalized"? I believe that one belongs on the "culinary apocalypse" thread. Or at least the "death of the English language as we know it" thread. Rethermalized. That just makes my eyelashes hurt.

I'm with you. The baseball park in Memphis serves barbecue nachos. I'm pretty sure that's a mortal sin.

Biscuit with chocolate gravy and a country sausage patty. Please forgive crappy cell phone photo; my camera is still AWOL.

Freshly ground. Preferably made in a French press, though I'll accept machine made. Half and half. Insulated mug with a top, preferably. The "travel French press" and the plug-in hot pot are the finest invention in the world, for one who travels; if I'm just going overnight and don't take them, I drink tea in the morning instead. And I hate Starbucks. Damn stuff tastes burnt. I can only tolerate it if it's in a latte.

Heath bars, Mars bars, Almond Joy, Zagnut.

Back in the day, Mama used to make popcorn balls and caramel or candy apples. That's out the window these days, as homemade treats, unless the little imps' parents know the giver, are tossed unceremoniously. So I save those treats for parties and such. I tend to buy the big bags of Hershey's minis, because kids like 'em and I don't, so I can safely have them lying around the house until the Big Night, and leftovers lying around until I remember to take them to work. And Smarties. I love Smarties. Will eat an unconscionable amount of them. I also have to go buy candy corn, which I love anyway, but have had a flash of brilliance that I ought to be able to substitute it for chocolate in my favorite fudge recipe and have candy corn fudge, and I just can't wait to try that.... Oh, and you can always take Tootsie Roll pops, cover the pop with a Kleenex, tied around the stick with a black ribbon, and a little face drawn on. Just kinda cute.

A Grapette soda with a bag of Tom's salted peanuts poured into it. On the front porch of a country store, bare feet coated with dust, watching the cars go by.

dcarch -- Words fail me. Wow!

Potato salad. A dinner plate full of it, still warm from boiling the potatos. With Hellman's mayo, spicy mustard, and a squirt of ketchup, seasoned salt, paprika, garlic and onion powder, and a ton of chopped sweet pickles. And a glass or three of red wine. My very favorite "it's all about me" meal in the world.

Been there, done that, many a time. First cold Saturday in November, always. When I was a little kid, my job was stuffing sausage; later, I graduated to packing hams and bacon in salt for curing. And in the South, where I grew up, it was "hog killin'."

A lovely, lovely little appetizer -- tiny redskin potatos, boiled, halved, topped with a dab of creme fraiche and a spot of caviar. I could eat a dozen. Make that two dozen.

I make a marinated carrot salad with cauliflower and occasionally raw turnips that I like; I suspect you could can it and it would serve as pickled carrots. You'd need to fiddle with the quantities, to get enough brine to cover the carrots. I use this brine for cole slaw as well. 1/2 cup cider vinegar 1/2 cup water 3/4 cup sugar 1 teaspoon dry mustard 1/2 teaspoon turmeric 1 teaspoon celery seed 1/4 teaspoon white pepper Heat to boiling and pour over whatever veggies you're using. Keeps forever in the fridge, and as I said, I expect you could can it.

Haha. They're not really chips per se. I carefully peel all of the layers off the onion and I cut them into little rectangles. Then they're put into a shallow bath of extra virgin olive oil mixed with red wine and a few pinches of salt. That is then heated in the oven at 350° for about 25 minutes, until they've darkened a bit and look crispy. They're quite tasty. Oh, now THAT sounds good! I must try that one. Bruce, how do you do your smoked sweet potatos? Kim, if you, like me, grew up convinced pork must be cooked to death or you would get trichinosis and die, isn't it wonderful to learn how to cook it RIGHT? My camera is AWOL, and I have been on the road and cooking very little. I did make a pretty good pot roast last night, and my son has asked for lasagna today, so that's on the agenda. I'm also contemplating butternut squash ravioli, so I was glad to see that thread as well.

I do dry rubs and low-slow roasting (at 250 degrees, an hour per pound) to get pork butt to the proper "pulling" consistency. I find that if I add maybe a half-cup of liquid to the pan, in addition to the juices that cook out, it stays moist enough. I don't put mine on a rack, unless I'm actually grilling with coals on either side, as opposed to in the oven.

Kim, I am of the "less is more" school of thought when it comes to French toast. 1. I always, always use challah, about an inch and a half thick. 2. I dip in a mix of one egg and about 1/3 cup heavy cream. That'll do about four to six slices. I press them down a bit to make sure the egg/cream soaks up into the bread. 3. I fry them in butter over medium high heat. It is NOT cholesterol friendly. And I don't care.

I discovered champorado (Filipino chocolate rice porridge) earlier this year. I love it. I think the next time I try it, I'll do it with coconut milk. And while the recipe calls for glutinous rice, I used brown last time and it worked fine. Recipe I use is here: http://www.food52.com/recipes/3055_champorado_chocolate_rice_porridge

Percyn, the risotto looks fabulous. Did you toast the walnuts and toss them in at the last minute, and were they seasoned with anything first? They almost looked as if they were toasted in a sugar glaze. Kim, I'd love the recipe for that Italian pot roast! RobirdsTX, love the chicken burrito/tacos. DCarch, as always, gorgeous presentation. I envy all you people who still have figs -- our fig season is so short here. I've been on the road, and had one evening at home to cook in the last couple of weeks. I made chili and bean/sausage soup for the kids to have while I'm gone on the current trip, and pork chops with Jezebel sauce for me, inspired by the recent thread on here re: Jezebel sauce. Had it with sweet potato latkes and sesame green pea salad on which I forgot to sprinkle the sesame seeds. And I had a photo of it, but I can't find it!

No, but if you're up in that area, if you get a chance, please go to the Austrian Village in Rockledge and then tell me about the homemade bratwurst, the German potato salad, and the red cabbage, so I can drool until I get my next chance to visit up there in December.

It not being lunch time yet, I'll detail yesterday's. As I live in one of the barbecue havens of the world, I indulged: Purity Barbecue's lunch special, a choice of ribs, beef, ham or pork shoulder, sliced or chopped, with two sides (I chose baked beans and slaw)and iced tea. For $7.75. And it's enough beef and beans (I did eat all the slaw) that it served for dinner that evening. Can't beat it.

I cook big meals on the weekend, and then warm or "repurpose" leftovers; i.e., leftover pot roast and veggies become vegetable soup. A good grilled cheese sandwich, maybe with some bacon if you need a protein infusion, pairs well with most soups. I couldn't function without my crock-pot. Prep happens the night before, all is stashed in bags or bowls in the fridge, combined in crock pot that morning. I also have been known to do the prep for a pot roast -- brown the meat, peel the veggies, everything in the pan -- and stick it in the fridge, then into the oven with the timer before I leave for work. That would work with braises as well. The key to quick weeknight dinners is truly the ahead-of-time prep, no matter how you're cooking the next day. Leftovers get incorporated into pasta sauces or thick soups that go over rice, or get wrapped in tortillas. As long as ONE dish is new, the rest doesn't feel as much like leftovers, particularly if disguised in some different presentation. If I'm grilling on the weekend, I'll typically grill a bunch of extra burgers or chicken breasts. Burgers can be just burgers on a bun during the week, or a chopped steak with onion gravy. Chicken breasts can be most anything -- topper for a salad, in a wrap, in a sauce over pasta or rice, or wherever your imagination takes you. Frozen tilapia filets, moved from freezer to fridge in the morning, broil or pan-fry in minutes. Leftover grilled tuna makes a great addition to a pasta salad. Finally -- fried rice! The ultimate repository for leftovers. Chunk 'em all in. Hard to beat.

Darienne -- try this link and order them. Dried, true, but better'n nothing. http://latinmerchant.com/productlist.asp?cat=Peppers&SubCat=Dried%20Peppers&subCatID=20