maggiethecat

Yes! I own the same pot and use it all the time -- it's great for pasta. And it cost,oh, eight bucks?

Yogurt makers. Equal or better results can be achieved by wrapping your warm jar of milk and starter in a couple of towels for four hours (or so.)

Melt some good chocolate, stir in some cornflakes, spoon them out on a cookie sheet in tiny haystacks. Cool. Eat. Heaven.

We have a table that seat 12 easily, and we're two diners. (Well, it can get to be three , depending on how insistent our willowthecat gets about helping with the crossword puzzle, the sewing project, the bill paying.) The dining table is its own environment; it multitasks. Right now: a towel folded across one end (I couldn't be bothered taking out the ironing board) the Sunday Puzzle, five packages of seeds, "Quantum of Solace" in its Netflix envelope, two placemats, a stem of "Abraham Darby" in a bud vase, bills, magnifying glass (his) a paper cutter (origami aide)and a coffee mug. It'll get spiffed up by dinnertime. (I shelved the cookbooks yesterday.)

Old Bay is fabulous stuff, and terrific in all the applications you've mentioned -- next time I make chips I'll be shaking some on. It belongs in a category named "This is better than I can make and cheaper than I can make." Like a pack of dried onion soup mix and a carton of sour cream: the best California dip. Note to men: crumble a little behind your ears and I'll follow you anywhere.

Perfectly stated. What kind of recipe was it? What's your definition of a spice cookie?

A broken yolk is an abomination, if I do say so myself. I've no idea why the broken yolk meme is part of a fried egg sandwich, or in any fried egg application. I love a scrambled egg sandwich, especially the Chicago Pepper and Egg variety. Scrambled egg, "Italian" bread and fried sweet peppers. Seriously good.

I overbowl and underbowl on a nightly basis. Whatever's handy. I adjust at serving time. Or not.

162.750, but I suspect that this is the NPR ratio: in this society the cookbook count is about 1/20 the number of actual cookbooks.

Fist bump! I've defended Amanda Hesser here and elsewhere -- she's a good writer and a smart cookie. This piece was misguided . The Obamas are busy privileged people. So what if Michelle doesn't cook? Laura didn't cook, Barbara didn't cook, Hillary didn't cook, Nancy didn't cook, Rosalind didn't cook. Maybe Abigail Adams cooked. The Prez has commented often how much he loves to walk to family dinner every night. I'm sure it's a terrific dinner, and there's time for family chat. And yes, maybe they'll eat a First Tomato.

Michelle Obama loves good food, but doesn't like to cook --heck she had a PC when she was a private citizen in Chicago.(I like clean clothes, but hate doing laundry.)She's enthusiastic about fresh food, and the produce in the White House Garden will get served at family dinners and at White House receptions. Along the way, she's educated some city kids about where food comes from, and invited culinary students to chat with her chefs. Name another recent First Lady who's accomplished anything even close. I love to cook, but in her position I'd be thrilled to be fed by the White House kitchen staff. Reviewing the day's menus would be a blast.

Don't buy some swell six burner hot rod when all you need is a reasonably fuel efficient stove from, say, Sears. Form a neighborhood cooking collective: Share your ice cream maker, your blow torch, your smoker,your rototiller, your pasta machine.

I bit, and so microed three tiny Yukes at lunchtime -- why boil three potatoes was my thinking, (altho I reject the four micro-onde for other preps, like roesti. )I used the masher, which worked just fine. Couldn't rationalize turning the oven up high to cook three tiny spuds, so I put my trusty 1.99 Ikea non-stick Stekka pan on the stove top, added butter and oil, turned up the heat and added the little smashers smashed side down. They turned delectably crispy and brown in a couple of minutes, so I flipped them for another minute, then pulled them off and ate them. They were fabulous. When I'm cooking for more than one, I'll for sure try the longer oven version. But even my lazy version rocked.

I'm pretty sure that there will be a segment where Jamie and Alice natter away, but the concept is cute, and I'm willing to give it a shot. Disclosure: Jamie writes family-friendly delicious recipes. I like him, whatever his evangelistic flaws.

Huge giggle. Thanks, Peter. It happens, it does, and I'm ignorant of astrology. I'm about to burn two grilled cheese sandwiches. It's about fatigue, the little ins and outs of the family, the pantry, the stove. And next week, you'll be amazing your fam as if you were Ducasse. But I totes recognize the rotten feeling of screwing up a few family meals in a row.

Yagna: I'm glad we're together here: Toostie Rolls are really vile. Nasty. Horrid. Whyever would you eat them?" Pukey. I am the most moderate and considerate of posters about food. At Tootsie Rolls I draw the line.

Make real fudge or real taffy. Tootsie Rolls are nasty. Horrid. I had a tangential career relationship with the TR company, a Chicago firm, and we got boatloads of free Tootsies. I was never tempted, not even once, and I could have filled my purse with them. (When Vitner's dropped off a case of chips, that was another thing entirely.)

Isn't Grand Marnier sorta citrus based?

I tasted three pizzas at Mozza last week. I'm not going to weigh in about authenticity, but it's delicious pizza. Authenticity in Italy? That's a huge subject, my friend.

Growing up, it was always a main, but served only at lunch. I'll take it any way I can get it now, married as I am to a man who hates it.

Thanks, Kerry. Demain.

D'accord.

My fingers itch to edit the Inside Aisles. Canned pears, peaches and beans will do just fine.

A few months ago we bought a cool new digital television (Aka the Jumbotron) and for the first time in 25 years I'm able to watch network (not cable) tv. So I get to watch Martha Stewart and Rachael Ray in their talk show formats. Martha is the Woman, no doubts. Even Bourdain has said he's impressed by her technique and efficiency. There's no fluff when Martha cooks. Then there's Rach. She does a short cooking segment at the end od her program, minus the infamous "Yummos!" and in five days of programming I get a "Hmmmm. Might work" vibe at least twice. I'm not freaked out or appalled by the Deen video (never seen her show.) Not Robuchon's Puree de Pommes de Terre, but not that much more unhealthy. Might be good. Jacques Pepin rules.

Ding! We have a (one of several) winner. I think that's an critical point: eat it up, all of it, and plan quantity carefully.