maggiethecat

My daughter regaled us last night with her recent experience at an Italian/Japanese restaurant in Los Angeles. That is some weird fusion! But the spaghetti and uni worked. Big time. (I love Southern California!) So: In this round of the Writing Competition, please give me the name of the Next Big Thing in Fusion restaurants, the cuisines involved, and the signature dish. Maybe: Caribbean/Chinese: Wontonamera. Signature dish: Jerked General Tsao? Cajun/Tibetan: The Blackened Yak. Signature dish: Well, Blackened Yak! Hmm…Newfoundland/Senegalese? Have fun. (Need I remind anyone that the First Prize ensures not only Food Writing Immortality, but also an eGullet Tshirt that’s the shizzle?)

"words I didn't know I yearned to hear until I actually read them out loud:" Yes, Sigh! (Kinda like the one time I was in Oklahoma City and the concierge said "Howdy, Ma'am!" A desire I never knew I had until it happened. Brown suger and pork. Yes, this could work. But the quantity is pretty astounding; would the Kitchenaid be up to it? Amd that's before flour eggs, etc.! It occurs to me that the housewife of Old Virginia probably had cheap---or worse-- slave labour here. Any dried fruit? Liqour? Never mind, Arch, I'll PM you for the recipe!

Two days left for you to indulge in limerick silliness. How's this for a lure: I will write a custom limerick for each entry I receive between now and midnight, May 31st. It will include your alias and some tomfoolery about comestibles. There once was a chef from Sioux Falls Who said, "Maggie, stop busting my balls!" I'll write you that poem And it will sure show'em A limerick just nevers palls.

Rabbits! Yes, Hop, amazing how quickly those cuties can morph into evil destroyers! Wire helps. The old classic...bloodmeal sprinkled around the edges of beds helps. The best solution is a resident dog or cat who has gardern privileges.

First order of Business: Read everything that Suzanne has posted on this thread. Dead right, as always. Me? Yeah: The Unrevised Joy of Cooking Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian...wow, nuts and berries never tasted better The MFK anthology...because there is so much good writing. Boxed set of Laurie Colwin's Home Cooking and More Home Cooking , ditto Larousse

Get them. The recipes work. The wrting is excellent (MFK herself wrote "Provinicial France") and the photography is drop-dead beautiful. As Aurora said...don't limit yourself to eBay. Used book stores, yard sales: Keep your eyes open.

And the picture of the birthday cake....? It looks wonderful. I'll take in laundry and go to Ambria someday.

Very generous, Varmint! And actually, it made me hungry. (My sister-in-law's in-laws--tiny octegenarians--both actually fell asleep at a red light. Thank God he must have put the car in gear first.)

Waiting impatiently...

Meat loaf and garlic mashed spuds.

Kim: Fascinating. Really. Yes:"I'm also suprised by the negative opinions about oysters and shellfish." Me too. Heck. Whaaa? Beets are marginal. Just Depends. But gin? Um, mother's milk to me. That serious scary herbal bouquet. I love it. But I'm really interested in your aversion to pepper in many situations. IMHO, that fresh ground black kick improves almost anything. Is it the taste and aroma of pepper you dislike, or the way it affects a particular dish?

You are So Wrong! And we are thrilled to hear about that pound. Think of the mass of a pound of butter...or ground chuck. It's not sticking to you anymore. Good work. We hang breathlessly....

Lenient is my middle name. Well, one of them!

Sure, Brig! Limerick How Tos And again, the contest is extended a week.

Lay aside that new shiny "Saveur" Check these out---just become a voyeur. Your limerick's better And harder and wetter Post one now. I'm excited. Fer shur!

that is nasty. i shudder thinking about it. Ummm: I don't shudder. Sounds good. Yes, yes! Puffy Cheetos.

Jess: That's some writing. OK. I buy the packs of Maruchan Noodle Soup mixes when they are 10 for a dollar. Thow out the broth mix packet and eat the noodles raw. Yum.

That makes it 27, 657. 5.238 miles. I forsee a road trip. Missouri: Sparrowgrass, I haven't eaten breakfast yet. My stomach is calling an audible. Georgia: Archie...I understand your grits are famous. All verieties, please.

From the beginning you had my two faves covered. Um, maybe because we're both Canadians? The "Joy" has a recipe for Tomato Soup Cake, but it's called, I believe, Mystery Cake. I just might have to make one soon...that rich, spicy almost fruitcake flavor. Except of course, that it's cheap and could be whipped up by any fifties Mum in three minutes... even if she didn't have a Sunbeam Mixmaster. (Did anyone's Mum not have a Sunbeam Mixmaster?)

Ah..you southern aristocrats! The weight reduction/maintenance advantage is something I've never researched. It didn't work for me, but again, I was a nursing short-timer. Empirically, my neice was back in her size six jeans in an amazingly short time postpartum. Without dieting. Based solely on her example, I'm a believer.

The limerick's a verse form complex: Its contents run mainly to sex. They're chock full of virgins And masculine urgins And vulgar erotic effects. So please write one all about food. The content should never be--- crude! But we will be alert And you might win a shirt For a food pun that's tastefully lewd. To offer some foreplay to you I won’t hold your posts in my queue. I’ll release them each day (More exciting that way!) But the climax still comes in Week Two. Contest Three is on hold for awhile. (Interruptus, she said with a smile.) The submissions were great But I want more than eight A Big Bang is more eGullet’s style. Post your limericks here . . .

Oh, God, the diet my mother kept herself on when she was pregnant with twins! She weighed ten pounds less than her supermodel weight after delivery. Marlboros and martinis. Many of us were carried to term on these. (Yes, I smoke. And I like martinis!)

g: Thank Heavens Elizabeth is displaying her usual good sense! And sure, you get extra points from me! FG: Yes, I agree, and will continue trying to find a sample. It may be harder to score than a dime bag at my Grandmother's church sewing circle. Kim: Yeah, I know the mother hen feeling, and indeed, my husband, among others, has gone on record saying he found the piece weird and unnecessary. Can't please all of the...etc. But, actually "taste" is the fifth word in the first sentence and the nutritional superiority of breast milk does not need to be proven any more, thank God! I did give it those two months, after all, for that very reason. Oranges...hmmm Will think....

Gee, thanks Pan, she said with a girlish giggle. I did not know that we actually shed taste buds with age...I thought we dulled them. Thanks for the clarification. Good grief, with extra virgin taste buds, breast milk must taste very sweet!

Breast milk yoghurt A little trolling found me this. I might add that it was meant to be a letter to Dan Savage, so not for the more sqeamish reader. If eGullet has any squeamish readers! edited in an effort to hide sloppy writing