maggiethecat

Thanks for reminding me, Laura. I too always intend to, and forget. Actually, gradually, my whole garden is starting to resemble the veritable "cottage garden." I love flowers too much , and my property is too small, to dedicate a lot of room to a veg garden. Tomatoes have their sunny spot. Otherwise, it's live and let live, plant-wise. Heck, make a cheap bamboo tuteur, plant beans, train them upwards...they look darn pretty in with the perennials. And as I've mentioned before, basil and catnip make pretty underplatings for roses.

If I'm ever lucky enough to come across some I will. The flowers are so pretty. Hey, Nick: I have found a source for you for Papaver Somniferum. Select Seed's Antique Flowers catalouge. Just go to selectseeds.com. Unless you live in West Virginia or Canada. They won't ship there.

From the Select Seeds Antique Flowers Catalogue (www.selectseeds.com): Borage: Borago Officinalis: "A fovorite flower of the ancients, borage was believed to have powers to gladden the heart. Sky blue star-shaped flowes nod in clusters of open flowersand unopened buds at the top of stout stems. The rough leaves are covered with stiff white hairs. Remove the rough sepals before floating in drinks, adding to salads or candying in egg-white and sugar." I't pretty and self-sows. Also available in white. I'm going to contact a supermod to move this to the Gardening, everything about it: thread, if that's all right.

Just dragging this back into the Collective Consciousness. All in, right?

Huevos: Thank you so much for your Alaska recollections. Stories like yours are one of the reasons eGullet is such an amaxing place!

You may call me Lily any old time(my smilies aren't working, or I'd have the blushing one here!) I disagree with the 45 minute thing...didn't Guerard make a big deal out of this too? So not worth it. And Nero didn't hand out compliments to women much anyway.

Well, back atcha, Dave. Ooooh That Archie. Still one of my literary studmuffins...as he was when I was twelve! Remember the scrambled eggs? I sort of disagree with Nero on that one.

So, Nero...how do you feel about lutefisk today? And your mother's chicken-stuffing incident deserves to become a legend, even at eGullet. If you don't mind me asking, was your mother Naturally Wacky, or were Other Forces at Play? Red Velvet Cake. How could I forget?

Was Nero's chef named Fritz, or was he the Orchid Guy? BTW...I was hoping your alias was a reference to the great Nero. Fer-de-Lance, welcome!

I hated: 1)Hot dogs..still do, unless incinerated black on a grill, skin split. With all the garnishes I can choke one down. 2)Peanut butter on white. Gack! (The above were a royal pain for anyone serving a kiddie menu!) 3) Cottage cheese. Still makes my toes curl. 4)Liver. And my mother cooked good liver beautifully. No prolbem now with chopped chicken liver, pates of all kinds, or foie. But a piece of liver? As the old song said...it makes me quiver. (It also said that"The liver lounges on the pancreas like a whore on a pillow of fat. Refrain: "I hate live, liver makes me quiver, liver makes me curl up and die, makes me cry...livlivliv liv liv...etc.) Anything else...no prob. When handed my first oyster on the half shell, aged ten, I slurped it down. Loved stinky cheese.

Please expound!

Thanks! Will try to make it. To Nine, that is. Will be there for Opera.

A thread after my own heart. One word for you: nasturtiums. Foolproof. Many, many lovely varities. The leaves and flowers really do taste peppery, like watercress! And , like you, I grow chives in the border. Also basil and Swiss Chard "Bright Lights."

Now That's an endorsement I can trust. Thank you so much, Suvir, for the address. I too am fantasizing about a huge spice pantry with chandelier! Wow.

Papaver Somniferum? Nick: You wanna mail me some seeds? Actually the classic red Legion of Honor, and some pretty pink frilly Shirley poppies.

Thanks to all of you, I am now the proud possessor of three pounds of chorizo. He started it at about one am Sunday Morning, and used a kind of mongrel recipe from the suggestions above. It is great. First application a tad odd, perhaps. Topping for a Tex/Mex pizza. Man it's good! Thanks again.

Geezo Pete! Ravioli without the pasta wrapping? Filling could be good by itself, I suppose? Caviar without blini? You bet, but I still like the blini. Hmmm. Let me think? Asparagus omelet without the omelet? Suzette only Crepes Suzette? The pancakes are 1)charming 2)As nina mentioned, add texure3)are authentic---as far as I know.

Sorry. This horror just filtered through the fug in my brain QUORN TIKKA MASALA!! And you are going to marry this woman?? Get off the board you charlatan S

Hopleaf..I was actually tempted! Unfortunately, the landscape is kind or sere and bleak right now. Remember, guys, if you are planting poppies, early February is the time!.. Just toss the seeds on a bare patch in the garden. That's all that's required.

But what about that late-evening snacking in front of telly, if the family has eaten early? Snacking =Tubbiness, no matter the time of day! We both maintain a pretty comprehensive snacking ban. My husband spent some time in Spain (before he met me) and I swear it changed his life forever. His natural preference is to eat after 10:00, and it requires nagging and hustling on my part to get the meal on the table by nine. As he does most of the cooking, this can be difficult. Growing up, my family ate 7:00 -ish (my parents having their Cheeverish martini hour!) Easier then, because there were fewer late-afternoon, evening activities for us kids...sports, etc. His family did the six o'clock Cleaver thing. His dad still reminds his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren to wash their hands before coming to the table. When our daughter was still at home, her incessant nagging got the dinner to the table by eight. As an adult, I don't think she is capable of eating much earlier than 7:30. Last night...our homemade pizza(with homemade sausage) and a video ("Barbershop" ..we loved it)at 10:00. Pretty typical for a weekend night. Maybe we are just blessed with the digestive systems of goats, but neither of us suffer at all from the dread "going to bed on an full stomach" syndrome. What I have noticed is that if we do eat early, I am awake at 3:00 a.m., starving and considering a refidgerator raid!

Amen. Keep 'em coming, please.

Bravo, Guru! May you and Patrice and your line and your FOH have great success. And as a transplanted Montrealaise, I know how great a food city it is, and miss it.

Jaymes: Girlfriend, I have already gained three inches simply reading your recipies. Will run around the block twenty times, print them out, and bake. Thanks.

Benvenuto Paul! (Hope that's right!) Don't worry about the English language skills. Most of us here (I'll wager) are native English speakers, and many of us write and spell far worse than you do. (Edited for spelling)

Has anyone eaten at a chain called Baja Fresh? Haven't seen one in these parts, but child in California says the food there is really not bad. Kind of sounds like Chipotles