maggiethecat

You go, Stellabella! Hoppy: Everything that can be composted must be composted, and Stella and I will visit and have a slapfest if we find you tossing leaves or clippings. And vegetative kitchen scraps! My parents had a good chuckle seeing the spouse and me in action making dinner this summer. "We've never seen adults in the First World fighting over garbage before!" His Handsomeness keeps a container in the freezer in which he deposits poultry scraps, mushroom stems, onion scraps, etc..the detritus of prepping dinner. When the container is full he makes stock. (Idea courtesy of Jacques Pepin). We were fighting over what got the celery leaves and parsley stems...the stockpost or the compost heap. I always get the coffee grounds and the eggshells. There are all sorts of scientific methods of making a compost heap. My advice is "Don't sweat it!" Feed the beast (Add some peat moss, it's good) and turn it over once a week with your garden fork. Try planting tarragon. To my immense delight, it has prospered over the last fifteen years. And by all means, play around with heirloom tomatoes...your good garden center should have them. We planted Brandywines for the first time a couple of years ago and will never have other than heirlooms now. I almost cried at the first bite. "Ah hah! This then, is what a tomato should taste like!" Swiss Chard "Bright Lights" lookes fab in my flowerbeds, as did the basil, which makes a good underplanting for rosebushes. I belong to the Senseless Useless Beauty school of gardening...many more flowers than veggies. But the summers I didn't plant vegetables I missed them badly. And for the magic thing (Especially good if you have little kids)throw in a package of radish seeds. They are so easy and grow so fast. Don't worry too much about the possible effects of nitrogen leaching from wood chips, though Dave (wow! wish I could see his garden!) is correct. Your compost and soil amendments will offset it. And I'd go ahead with the newspaper now, although the cold will slow the action. It will make you feel busy and useful, and you'll get a head start should we have a warm spring.

His Handsomeness and I just got back from a few days in L.A. Our adored only child has moved there, so we had a reason to visit a place we probably would never have otherwise seen. Boy, am I glad she's there! I spent some time with her in June and dragged my husband along last week because 1)it was free 2) He had a big birthday to celebrate, one with a zero on the end. And his daughter had specifically said she wanted to see her Daddy. I'll omit the tourist stuff....although H.H. did see the Pacific Ocean for the first time at Malibu on his birthday. Rode the Ferris Wheel at Santa Monica Pier and biked to Venice. The Getty, the Huntington, etc.... What he did do immediately (he is the King of Food Stores...never goes into a chain wherever we are!) was find our daughter and boyfriend a real supermarket. Sunset and Western (Farm Food? Fresh Foods? I forget.) Fabulous , huge, good bread. He got great shrimp, peppers and chorizo for our jambalaya that night. Also a turkey, all Thanksgiving trimmings, eggs, milk, butter, etc. gin and vermouth, cat food for under 74.00 bucks. It was an enormous amount of good food. We went to El Pueblo on Sunday and snuggled up to the tortilla trio (Encillada, taco, quesidilla) in a tiny restaurant housed in one of L.A.'s oldest buildings. I thought it was charming that this house was still being used, but I am from the city of Big Shoulders and Big Architecture, It amazed me that Los Angeles seemed to play so fast and loose with some of its oldest remaining buildings. Got a papusa from a woman and her tiny daughter who operated a little griddle/pushcart operation. It was good, 'tho even my usually adventuresome husband and daughter blanched and predicted dire G.I. problems. They didn't happen. Then a walk around Chinatown. Restaurants? We had shabu-shabu (a first for us) at a place on Sawelle called Mizu 212. Stylish place, great service, impeccable ingredients. H.H. admitted to being a big hairy insensitive gaijin..."Too much work for too little food!", but I would recommend it highly if shabu-shabu is your thing. For his birthday we went to a Thai place, Chan Dara, on Cahuenga. It's a pretty room, but the most outstanding feature is its extremely comely, friendly and scantily attired wait staff. The Thai toast was excellent, the boned stuffed chicken wings will be reproduced chez nous shortly and the beef with chile and basil sang with happy fresh notes. There is an amazing place in Glendale called Porto's where we had lunch. It's a bakery, and on Saturday there was a line OUT THE DOOR of people picking up birthday cakes! I'm not a fan of the sheet cake ordinarily, but these were all different and all looked good. I had the hot roast pork sandwich on Cuban bread with garlic mayo. Good. They also have such fried/carb treats as mashed potato balls stuffed with meat and deep fried and little meat pies in puff pastry. All cheap, fresh and delicious.. But the best meal we had in L.A.....was the Thanksgiving dinner we threw together in my daughter's *tiny* kitchen. H.H. decided to do the Julia thing from Jacques and Julias's book. Remove the backbone of the turkey, remove the drumsticks. Bone the drumsticks, then stuff them with (my) sausage/sage/breadcrumb dressing. Set the breast over a pile of the stuffing. A fourteen pound turkey cooked in under two hours, perfectly. Our daughter bought an excellent pumpkin pie from a bakery on Los Feliz Blvd., but otherwise we staged the whole mashed potatoes/cranberry orange Grand Marnier relish, /curried carrots, /giblet gravy etc. etc. from about three square feet of counterspace. My own larger kitchen would have been completely trashed. Go figure. Got back to Chicago. Cold. Dark. Snow predicted. Do you Angelenos really appreciate the paradise you inhabit?

Hoppy: Hooray! A gardening buddy in the Chicago burbs. I will add more later (gardeners are a close second in passion to foodies) but: Here is the best thing I ever learned about preparing new beds. THE OLD NEWSPAPER TRICK: Cover the areas you want to turn into beds with newspaper 4-5- layers thick. Cover with a couple of inches of mulch you buy at the gas station or Builder's Square. By April the grass will have broken down and the paper and mulch turned to compost. Till and plant. Easy! And pay a visit to the Planter's Palette on Roosevelt Road in either West Chicago or Wheaton---West Chicago I think. Just west of Winfield Road. Their selection of everything is top-notch and so is their expertise.

Not "liking to cook" equates in some small way with "not liking to live", at least in my family. His Handsomeness (who, as I have mentioned is really the Exec Chef chez nous) and I simply can't imagine not planning, shopping and cooking every day. My mother runs a similar kitchen---thanks, Mummy!--and my young daughter now shops and cooks on a regular basis. This last fills my husband and me with great pride and thankfulness: we have contributed a human being who is Keeping the Faith in the kitchen. As suzilightening mentioned, we too get all kinds of questions: "Don't you ever use a mix? Get carry out? Micro something?" The answer is no. We have the time and the inclination. We eat better, healthier and cheaper. Every cuisine brings its own set of lessons and revelations. We set the table, pour the wine, and light the candles every single night. And that's from the very first night of our (long) married life. Who knows? Maybe it's marriage therapy. If the worst argument you have all day is about whether to have pommes de terre Macaire or Pommes Savonettes it puts things in perspective. Oh, to love washing up! But somehow, it's not so bad when we've had a wonderful meal. (With lots of good leftovers the better to stagger ones lunchmates at work.)

Simon: Thanks for three great ideas in three sentences. They all sound wonderful. May I put in a plug for good old choufleur gratinee? I suppose it is nursery food, but I adore the combination of cheesy bechamel, caulie and crispy breadcrumb/cheese topper.

Don't apologize, ever. Your posts are always interesting, whatever the length. Do you have any idea how many of us get a teeny vicarious thrill reading your stuff? Feel better.

Beautiful Star: I have similar prejudices about the Lone Star State, and I know now that I could be easily disabused of my stupid northern ways. Thanks to your terrific post. "Thank you for sharing!"

Orkalet: Well, my Lancashire grandparents would certainly qualify as "lower middle class"--altho' my Nana is rolling in her grave to hear herself so described! Still, after Nightscotsman's musings, guess what I'm having for lunch? Speaking of exotic...at least to a ten-year-old Nordamericaine like me: My friend Edith Ridder's parents were from Holland. A sleepover breakfast at the Ridder's was a banquet of cheese and cold meat and bread and jam---with a big jar of chocolate sprinkles which they put on everything. Yes, the meat too. I regret that I was too young and chicken to have enjoyed this to the fullest.

Thank you for all your great suggestions. I will report in full when I get back Now I'm trying to figure out what the heck to pack! It's 38 here, 76 there, and my daughter says I have to bring "fall looking" lightweight clothes! Not an item in a Chicago closet! Fall means warm, light means summery.

Nightscotsman: I infer from your handle that you have bloodlines originating in the British Isles? I'm a Canadian...paternal side Scots, maternal Lancashire. Maybe that's the connection. Caledonians do it. The jam and grilled cheese thing....like apples and cheese, perhaps? Or those little bries en croute with fruit garni? Or maybe our families were just on to something. Buttery crispy bread, melted cheese, that little contrast of cool soft jam against hot crust... Until you brought this up, I had no idea how much I missed it. Now here's an easy way to relive childhood!

Nightscotsman: You mean, this ISN'T the correct way to eat grilled cheese? My mother always put out jam (never marmelade) with grilled cheese sandwiches and I always thought that this was the knowledgable, classy, haute way to eat them!

Thanks, Hollywood! We will check this one out fer sher.

Either and both, but mostly what you walk up and buy! All your suggestions are extremely appreciated. Come to think of it, should Mummy and Daddy feel expansive one night, could you recommend anyplace -any cuisine- that is good, Angeleno-ish, dinner for four (And some beer) aroung $150.00?

We are heading from Chicago to L.A. the day after tomorrow to visit daughter/daughter's b'friend. They are relativiely new to L.A., but happy eaters. Ermmm...Mom and Dad won't be able to take four (or two!) to any of the pricey restaurants I've read about from you Angeleno eGulletiers. But Daughter keeps raving about L.A. streetfood. Any ideas to add to hers? You're thinking: "Lady! Just eat the street food, already!" We will! But anything you suggest will add even more to the banquet. And what's a "Papusa?" Or a "Baja Fresh?" The only eating out I did last time I was in LA was a Korean Barbecue place (good) on Sawtelle and a tapas place called Sangria in Hermosa Beach. Got a good sandwich at the West Hollywood Market. Perhaps we'll settle the question: Which is better, In-and-Out-Burger or Fatburger? Not that it matters particularly, but Daughter lives off Los Feliz near Griffith Park. Thanks in advance!

I know that I am of the minority opinion here: I like my stuffing stuffed into the cavity. Lord, the arguments every Thanksgiving! His Handsomeness is firmly in the "Baked outside the cavity" school. Dressing's o.k. I have eaten enormous quantities of it! But no matter how often you baste dressing with stock or juices, it just isn't as tasty as stuffing. Does Stuffing sometimes get soggy? Or dry? Yeah. It's still good! And there is some kind of childhood thing going on too: we all loved to watch Daddy take the first spoonful of stuffing out of the bird. That glorious whiff of herbal, oniony steam! I know not of a single human being (personally) who has become sick because of stuffing. BUT: The compromise now is that I make a classic sage/breadcrumb/herb onion stuffing for the cavity and H.H. makes a separate dressing according to his whim of the moment. I like his cornbread, sausage and jalapeno version...tasty, and the sausage helps keep it moist.

After bitter experience along these lines, I have found there to be one -ONE -item that , if homemade, especially, (but the store-bought crap would probably do as well! Argh!) always 1)gets chosen first 2)gets snapped up at the bakesale 3)wins the prize. That buttery, sugary, (in our case baba rhum sirop infused) .....pineapple upside down cake. I kid you not. We made a beauty for our daughter's pre-school bakesale. The lady we handed it to had a peek, said "Hot damn," put five bucks in the till and put it aside. Our daughter's waiting for the results of her LSATs right now and we have made many the upside-down cake in the ensuing years. Nightscotsman....take your even more beuatiul one to work, with a bowl of real whipped cream. Bet you five bucks it all goes. Does the fruit make it seem okay, maybe?

Priscilla: You live in SoCal? I was there for the first time a couple of months ago and my senses were ravished by all that gorgeous flowering vegetation. L.A. looks pretty dry for a gardener, but the roses didn't seem to mind! I went to the gardens at the Huntington and my daughter and her beau had to drag me out forcibly. Gardening is all about overreaching. If you don't experiment, you don't learn. And it's an even greater teacher of patience than parenthood; there is so little we can control. Overreach! It's not about neatness and tidy rows.(Except in the cutting garden, where my neat rows make me feel Lady-of-the Manor-ish.) Plus, I admit, it is very satifying to have strangers stop at my tiny bower in June and say "I have never seen anything so lovely! " They haven't been around much! And they can't see the weeds from there! And thanks to the link for those bulbs.

Almost forgot! I love nasturtiums. They are as reliable as zinnias or radishes. And so pretty. This year I finally ate one, and, yes! The leaves are peppery like watercress and better textured. Buy the end of the summer I was throwing a whole naturtium, leaves and flowers, into salads. Beautiful and piquant.

About fifteen years ago, at the very beginning of my garden consciousness, I planted some sorrel. Man, this plant loves it here. When it gets big, rusty and ugly in midsummer, I simply cut it back to the ground and voila! I have a lovely patch of fresh small green leaves come fall. It's a classic ingredient, but seems to be used mainly in a soup, or with other veg. Does anyone have a favorite way to cook sorrel? I hate to throw those leaves on the compost heap for the winter! (edited to fix ancient typo.)

Priscilla: I just finished planting a couple of hundred non-saffron crocuses (croci?)and I am so jealous of you! Where did you find the bulbs? I hadn't come across this thread before, and as a passsionate gardener, can't help but weigh in. First, I can buy good cheap produce locally, so I don't grow that many veg. I am mostly a "senseless beauty" kind of gardener....roses! Lilies! Second, I live in the western burbs of Chicago and my garden faces straight west towards the boundless prairies. How I envy you gardeners in the Pacific Northwest or Great Britain. But I planted some swiss chard "Bright Lights" smack in the middle of my flowerbed. Looked like some fabulous coleus on steroids. Ditto my basil, which absolutely thrived there. Haricots verts up a couple of five foot bamboo teepees (tuteurs, if you must!)I made myself in about fifteen minutes...they add that nice "French Kitchen Garden" touch, and that all-important architectural focus!

What a wonderful thread....I missed it first time out. Had planned to make Laurie Colwin's gingerbread this afternoon (and still will!) but I'm going to see if I have any whole wheat flour so I can make a run at some chappatis. Thanks all, and especially Suvir for his evocative and helpful advice. Come to think of it, it the last couple of months I've been active on eGullet, I haven't seen much from bread bakers, whatever the ethnicity or specialty. You must live closer to good bread than we do!

Gourmando: Glad you enjoyed the Urban Pear! I agree, it was excellent value. And, indeed, I did ask for and receive more bread with no fuss.

For easy and good at room temp, I suggest frittata wedges. Cheap, easy, filling, yummy.

Aurora...how could I have forgotten the fireplace? I'll put it on the list right away! We did live in our kitchen for a few years because the "dining area" is attached. We had a big funky couch, where our daughter, two cats and a dog spent her middle school/high school years lounging together, reading, doing homework and talking on the phone to her girlfriends. I remember that time fondly. Homework at the kitchen table. Finally we reupholstered the sofa (you need to if you don't have a really good vent!) and moved it to the living room. End of an era.

Talked to my mother yesterday. She received a call from Le Baccara last week. She's off the waiting list and has scored a table for six for New Year's Eve. She called for reservations Jan.3, 2002! Now some of the original guests can't go, so all I can do is hope for 1)a job 2)a job that will give me ten days off over the holidays.