maggiethecat

I love creamy /salty/crunchy and fiddle about with salsas, guacamole,creme fraiche, yogurt, crudites, home-cooked tortilla slices, tartines, bruschetta et al. But there's nothing like opening that bag of onion soup mix, stirring it into a tub of sour cream, ripping open a bag of Wavy Lays and having my way with California Dip, eaten standing up, straight from container. With a big glass of decent white wine.

Amazingly, nothing new for me, but with the new information (and I'll count the Toxicology book) we're at 158,930. And Christmas is coming!

I've had good results doing just this.

Janet, I'll try your gluten-free version and I'm thinking about tinkering with it too -- a butterscotch brownie maybe. I agree that the original recipe is huge. After I posted this I halfed the recipe (and cooked it for 45 seconds) and it was still big enough for two.

His Handsomeness and I shared a mug tonight. It's such an odd thing: not baked, not a pudding, really dense. It's a Jetsons' brownie. I'm thinking a chocolate base for trifle.

This recipe is the bastard stepchild of all the reasoned, skilled, hard-won knowledge and artistry of the brilliant posters in the Pastry Forum. I would quail if I weren’t so enchanted by this recipe, and I think it would be a great little after-school snack for kids who are old enough to stir but too young to deal with ovens and flames. The caveat is that although it's hot chocolate fun plain, it’s so much better topped with some ice cream. The recipe comes from instructables.com, home to tonnes of DIYourselfers like me. (In college I crocheted my own shoelaces. I wish I’d made this up, but it’s true) Brownie in a Mug 4T Flour 4 T Sugar 2T cocoa (I used Hershey’s Special Dark) 2T oil (Just fine, but next time I’ll use melted butter) 2T water Pinch of salt Dump everything into a mug and mix thoroughly, and I mean thoroughly, so you don’t get lumpy bumps of flour in the final result. Stick the mug in the microwave and blast for one minute -- the center should still be slumpy. Top warm mug brownie with ice cream. No way it’s as good as sex, but hot chocolate brownie in two minutes is sensuous as heck.

I've never had a stability problem (or perhaps I unconsciously compensate when grabbing a pan through habit?) OK, I just checked and pulled off a cast iron pan and nuthin' swung. The own/rent dichotomy is valid. But when Janet moves she could leave it there for the next tenant-- she'd be paying it forward for a few bucks. But pot rack or not, I recommend a trip to Ikea.

I'm with Linda: hie thyself to an Ikea. I got a cool ceiling mounted pot rack, which hangs over my sink for something like five bucks. (I'll post a pic tomorrow.)Ikea excels at solutions for kitchen storage at a great price.

There's some chatter about this question on this topic:click. Foodie? Maybe -- the Obamas love a nice meal out. But I read somewhere (where, dammit?) that the Prez-elect ate the same dinner every night on the campaign trail: salmon, rice and broccoli. That's discipline.

I made better-than-many-years stock from the carcass, then the turkey/rice/vegetable soup from my mother's recipe. It was as wonderful as it was when she made it on December 28th every year. There's a limit to how much soup you can eat on consecutive days, and we had a couple of cups left over. Boy, did our cats make out! I zapped it for twenty seconds and poured some over their canned food. When cats are in culinary bliss their ears turn back and their eyes close. They lap every bit of the stock then devour the turkey bits and the carrots, rice and potatoes. Thank heavens I have a frozen stash of stock in the freezer!

Brooksie: Congratulations on your fast fat footwork -- the biscuits sound dreamy. It reminded me about stories my mother told about fat rationing during the depression and WWII. My grandmother made terrific biscuits from a dab of bacon grease stored in a coffee can. I'll top my necxt chicken and dumplings with biscuits made with chicken fat.

I too am committed to knives sans bolsters since we acquired our electric knife sharpener. In fact, I'm taking it to Canada over Christmas so that I can sharpen all my father's knives.

Yeah, my ovaries have applied for retirement since I started this topic. Who knew I'd miss the mess and agony of menses so much, the mood swings, the insatiable cravings, the water bloat, the occasional zit? But I get an estrogen shot every time I check in here. And I still perform the odd unnatural act with pasta.

A tip of the hat to Miss Mia (and her Mom.) That is just a lovely lunch. Oh that Western kids ate as healthy and as beautiful. Please tell what every lovely smidgen is, particularly the items at noon and six.

So whatchoo gonna order? Sigh.

Nine cupcakes, sixty bucks? Welcome to the Williams Sonoma Christmas catalog. This is hard core food porn, and I wriggle a little turning the pages. But like actual porn, it’s so unreal and unattainable, (unless you’re an AIG executive) that I think Chuck Williams must have lost his mind. We’re not talking the peppermint bark here, great as it is. Macarons: 24 for $49.00. Twelve canneles, $49.00. But that s just the setup shot. How about a 4 bone prime rib for $189.? Lobster pot pie (Oh Baby!)four for $79.00? Sixty gougeres for $55.00? Everything’s shot through gauze and I want it all. Bad. Now. Who the heck buys this stuff? (Fanning face.)

I didn't make up that word, my little sister Julia did. She's Downs, but very smart. This gem happened because she had severe undetected hearing loss and still can't speak that well. When no one wants to cook, what do you order in? Shiny Boots, aka Chinese Food. It's in the family lexicon.

Check out Tim Hayward's blog post, today at The Guardian. Fierce and funny.Right here. He thinks Chinese Restaurant Syndrome is borderline racist, just for starters.

Thanks for the recipe. This is top of the pops in my Must Make pie agenda.

I've had good results with freezing popcorn -- in fact, I always store it in the freezer.

Welcome, gingerbeer. Then there are the Patricia Cornwell novels, where Kaye Scarpetta cooks up a storm. In fact, I think Cornwell or her publishers published a Kaye Scarpetta Cookook for the faithful. Not fond of Cornwell's political or religious views, but she presents a strong woman who can really cook.

I'm about to set down to a turkey pot pie topped with the Noble Pepin's Quick Puff Pastry.

Turkey/stuffing/cranberry sandwich.

Ah, popcorn! I've owned the crank-handled version (impossible to clean) love the brown bag microwave version (not, somehow popcorning tasting enough), and grew up on my father's battered pot example. This is timely. Last week I pulled the remains of a very generic brand bag from the freezer -- at least three years old, and I followed the rubbed thin directions. I used my best triple bottomed saucepan, poured a layer of canola, corn, vegetable (can't remember) and put one kernel of corn therein. Following the instructions, I waited for the kernel to pop, then covered the bottom of the pot with a layer of corn. It popped like mad, I shook, and I saw everything through the glass lid. It was terrific, with sea salt and butter melted in the microwave. Five minutes, fifteen cents.

Sorry, Mike. Can't let that one pass, as a thirty year resident of Chicago. Transportation? Geez, bus, El and taxis. Walking? A neat grid plan. We're not talking LA or Atlanta, fine cities with their own transportation challenges. And why the heck do you think we all want to move to New York?. Not. Chicago has the better of the best, it's affordable, it's bubbling with creativity culinary and otherwise. I know peeps who want to go to NYC or Miami or LA for professional reasons of their own. That's cool. I seriously doubt your take on Chicago if you don't know about walking or public transportation. Come back -- I('ll give you a tour!