maggiethecat

It tells you that Anita had learned from experience what St. Harold parses for us, his eager and grateful disciples.

In The Daily Gullet there are a couple of articles talking directly about English Food: Tim Hayward's brilliant That Sweet Enemy and my own Bane of a Small House,about Jessie Conrad's cookbook. My grandmother was English and her food was mind-bendingly delicious. When as a kiddie, I visited her in Toronto, she's have fresh fruit and nut bread (baked in a can which formerly held Heinz baked beans)and a dish of strawberries and cream ready for my breakfast. Her standing rib was never grey, her Yorkshire Pud puffy and crisp, her trifle and scones and lemon curd still marks I shoot for. And heavens -- her sausage rolls and Summer Pudding! I make to this day (note to self: better start soon) her Plum Pudding. Her vegetables were cooked through and lashed with butter. I'll never forget that afternoon when I was twelve in Trois-Rivieres, Quebec, when she convinced my always waist-conscious Mother that she wanted to make a dish from her Lancashire childhood called Dabs. No joke, it was my introduction to deep-fat frying and it was as powerful a gustatory memory as that first oyster. I remember Mummy and Nana checking out a stock pot half-filled with bubbling corn oil. Nana had dipped potato wedges into a tempura-like batter of flour and water, and we watched them surface, golden and magnificent. A rest on some paper towel, some salt, and it was my maiden glimpse into the majesty of deep fried. Memoir aside, I suspect that the decline of reputation for English cooking was tied to the fierce and glum rationing during WWII and way too many years thereafter. Half a generation had forgotten how to cook, had nothing to cook with, and after the war there were kids who'd never eaten an orange. I'm going to make Elizabeth David's Spiced Beef for Christmas, as well as Delia Smith's Sausage Rolls (Brill pastry tip: grate frozen butter into flour for the flakiest pastry.) Read Jane Grigson, Elizabeth David and understand that the best English cooking is the same as the best cooking anywhere.

I'm reading Steven Shaw's Asian Dining Rules. It's a terrifically engaging book. About half of it is composed of clever sidebars, and the remainder is a dissection of Asian cuisines, what to look for, what to know about, what to expect. Sure, I knew about lots of it (including the kimchi fridges at HMart) but his explanation of why there are so few Filipino restaurants is truly instructive. That, and lots more. Major plus: it's fun.

Amen to everything Katie, including your question about French farm-style stuffing. A medium wedge of soft and stinky French cheese on a platter with, say, figs and grapes might give some ballast to guests who've already had a couple of martinis. Carr's Water Wafers work fine, taste good and are cheap. I'm loving the idea of a corn chowder, and brussel sprouts are as classic a Thanksgiving veg in my house as green bean casserole is at my sister-in-law's -- along with her "au gratin" potatoes from a box and her spiral ham. (Doesn't matter:everything tastes good at Thanksgiving dinner) I'm bummed. We'll be doing Thanksgiving a deux for the first time in my life. I want the kid's table, me as sweaty hostess, mashing eight pounds of spuds and making a side of cornbread dressing while stuffing the bird with breadcrumb/herb stuffing. Please God, don't let me do something clever with a turkey breast.

Erin, dear, not only did you channel Santa Marcella perfectly -- you can bet she'd have a piccolo of a belt of bourbon before she soldiered on, (Victor would expect dinner if his wife was in a body cast)but you're a shining example of Canadian womanhood. That moment when the tab snapped off -- ouch! And slivering garlic wrong-handed? You're an Amazon. I remember the first time I made this sauce and I had the same "She's gotta be kidding!" reaction to all that olive oil. But because I know that Marcella has Santa Claus-like powers: She knows when you are sleeping and when you are awake, She knows if you've been bad or good, etc. I used the full amount, and she was right. Take good, good care of yourself.

Frito-Lay was my knight in shining armor every twenty four days for many years. For Mother's/Archway fans I'm glad they've picked up the pennant and tucked Mother's hanky into their armor. I'm glad for you guys, and who can deny the power of cheap cookies and youth? (Like Peak Freans Nice Biscuits where I grew up.)One person's madeleine is another person's Oatmeal Raisin. So, no judgment here -- I'll love you if you're a Little Debbie's fan and assert your right to adore Nasty Cakes. But, just sayin': Mother's and Archway made really cheap nasty cookies. Shudder. (Moving to my witness protection home.)

Bread freezes beautifully, whether it's a great artisanal loaf or some cheapo Bay's English Muffins you know you won't get to this week. I've never thought about freezing it sliced and bagged into daily quantities, but I'm sure it would work. To push it further, I often freeze a stale baguette rather than toss it, because I can pull it out when necessary to make bread crumbs.

I have the ankle version of carpal tunnel -- my right foot has been pressed to the pedal of my sewing machine for so many weeks that I hobble a bit. Why, you ask? Reversible aprons -- like two aprons in one. I can have a sweet farmhouse print on one side and chile peppers on the other. I'm running through my scrap pile of a zillion years cutting out contrasting pockets and yokes. I've done the Church Lady Apron (love it) the 60's TV housewife apron (think Mary Richards or Samantha on "Bewitched") The Wrap Front Apron. I'm about to embark on the reversible His/Hers apron: Camo on one side, calico on the reverse. NASCAR print on one side, Hello Kitty in pink on the other. And maybe this isn't actually a His/Her thing -- maybe in my aprons I can express the gender dualities all of us hold? I'm stockpiling aprons for Christmas and the future global financial collapse, when everyone's gonna need to cook. If I really love you, I'm thinking of doing matching potholders.

I'm a soft and fluffy person, but I'll make an exception for a serious heel. (Diana is 18?????!!!!!!!!!)

It is a great system. I did this for several years, and when I missed some of the books I returned I went straight to Amazon.158,411.

This just in from a young friend, sadly not a member. "I split half a baguette, crammed it with American cheese slices, and microwaved it. Half an hour later I took the other half and repeated. Then I dug into the freezer for off brand peanut butter cups from last Hallowe'en. Two glasses of milk."

I love this book -- it's just freaking useful. And funny. But I read aloud the last chapter "Ending the Tyranny of Authenticity" to my husband, occasionally punching the air for effect. I propose finding culinary validation within ourselves and accepting that tomorrow's authenticity is always the child of today's inauthenticity. Words to live by.

Six more. Groan. But please rush out and buy Fat Guy's "Asian Dining Rules." It rules. Really. 157, 810.

Ok, I'm a heretic. I spent my thirties slavishly following Santa Marcella, feeling her sneer over my shoulder and learning about Italian food, for which I will light candles to her forever. But I've been reading Richard Dawkins and Bishop Spong. I worship at Priscilla's feet, and think that nakji is the best thing out of Canada since Marc Messier, but:I'm going to make this soup without peeling the chickpeas and see what happens. May God have mercy on my soul.

Yes, my daughter took the direct route when she worked at a high end caterer in Chicago -- she'd walk out to the loading dock of the Chicago Historical Society or the Shedd, saw the sleeping bags and the grocery carts and instructed her peeps to distribute the leftovers. But can all do our private part -- clean out the pantry, spent a little money and make it a weekly part of our lives.

My chicken-chomping compatriot Freddie lives about a mile from the Mother Jones food pantry referenced above. He drove by their site at 120th and Halsted this morning and saw people lined up DOWN THE BLOCK waiting for food. Beat the holiday rush, people--feed your neighbors now. ← Steve, I agree. I have, literally, forty bucks to my name, but : I have an Asian Pear tree in my back yard that's hailing down fruit two people can never eat. I'll take a couple of bushels to my local food pantry tomorrow. I own bought on sale pantry stuff: many cans of baked beans, white beans, chick peas, tomatoes. Pasta, cornmeal and rice. I can spend ten bucks wisely -- Jiffy cornmeal mix, on-sale peanut butter, mac and cheese, canned tomatoes and tomato sauce, jam. It's not just about need and poverty, and trying to help. It's karma too. Hie thee to a food pantry.

I don't live in LA, worse luck, but I have a foodie/historian daughter who does, and has taken me to most of the nice establishments you've mentioned. I'm gonna mention another, which may make LA natives roll their eyes into their heads,but I have to put a plug in for Phillipe's a short cab ride from the financial center. Maybe Phillipe's was where the French Dip was born, maybe not. But the sandwich is delicious, the sides and desserts are retro (as are the prices) and it is so Old LA -- like being transported into "Mildred Pierce." " It's the real deal, as the Berghoff in Chicago was before family troubles and greed shut it down. I can't tell you how much I heart Phillipe's.

Yes, Peter, I agree that the effort is everything.. The PC bentos sure outclass Lunchables, but it's the same lack of understanding -- a real person packs a bento, just as our Mums wrapped up a tuna sandwich, an apple and a couple of Peak Freans Nice cookies -- in a brown paper bag. God bless them. But a bento box is a thing of rare beauty, and I think we gaijin can think outside and within the box to delight our kids and ourselves. And as in Japan, a real person has to pack it.

Grouse! May you be lucky and report back in detail about the slaughter, the gutting, plucking and cooking.

Kris, that's exactly what I want to know. Take one pretty bento box, try to arrange Western food as beautifully, nutritionally sound and varied as a Japanese bento, and is it still a bento? Try to make it as amusing and varied and healthful as the boxes you send your lucky kids off to school with, even including the Hello Kitty molded hard boiled eggs and rice. What I don't want it to resemble is that crime against kids, budgets and nutrition -- the plastic coffin called "Lunchables" here -- some cheese and crackers, a little ham or turkey breast. The horror. (Had a nice dinner with Charlie Trotter's accountant -- our foodwas from Trotters to Go. His kid was eating a Lunchable) I think that we in the West can learn so much from bento culture. Care, cute, healthy. And I like the concept of competitive lunches -- parents caring.

Nuh no: Wasn't thinking fries or nuggets! Gag! Perish the thought! But maybe a slice of frittata, a fruit salad, a couple of slices of rare steak en vinaigrette?

I'm humbly asking for some ethnological/culinary advice here, and admit that my passion for all things Japanese, kawaii and bento still leaves big big holes in my understanding. My question: Altho I have the hard boiled egg presses, the tiny rectangular "omelet" pan and the cute fake grass, I'm no Japanese cook. Kris, your Sports Day Bento was (as Charlie Trotter used to say) pushed toward Mediterranean. Is there any school of thought about making bentos with Western food? Is this a crime against bentos, or a permissible variation?

Yes, I can tell -- you're positively glowing! Care to share why Big American Supermarkets make you happy?

Report. I've never eaten a Satsuma, but I live vicariously through this topic.

Groan. Add 15 for me, even though I'd taken the pledge. 157,804. Everyone, rush out and buy "Fat."