maggiethecat

The eGullet Assisted Living Facility is a fabulous idea, even if it operated in a very narrow market. Goldsters (my mother's contraction of Golden Oldsters) come in every vairety and stripe: golfers, old Trotskyites, birdwatchers, Republicans, yogites, Rangers fans, doctors, tenors, website founders, barristas, lawyers, brewers, engineers, writers, cops, Creative Directors ... And they all want to eat and cook great grub. I love the idea of young visitng (male) chefs, potlucks, road trips. Kerry, you are so on to something. I have a date to live in my daughter's basement and eat cat food -- I could never afford Dr. Beal's geriatric culinary utopia. Unless I get in on the ground floor, like now.

You bet we will -- as much as I love Shepherds Pie and Salisbury steak. Will our vegan brethern make out ? Will we get authentic Mediterranean, herbs and all? Wine with our dinners? Pho? Frisee with lardons? Great question, and deserving of its own topic. Will you still need me, will you still feed me when I'm 84? Cali: Ice cream with chocolate or caramel sauce.

I was a tiny tiny tot in the 50s, but I remember my mother's iconic smoked oysters wrapped in bacon -- much as I love their relative, rumaki, they win hands down. If you're not totally tied to Tiki, may I propose the Old Fashioned as the authentic 50s third cocktail? (Galliano is so 60s.) And No One used bitters in a 50s martini -- nor should they now. Gin, vermouth and an olive, Bartender. Save the bitters for the Old Fashioneds. Most of the food ideas here are 60s stuff, but I'm not gonna cavil, except to say mini-quiches weren't happening. Deviled eggs, then as now, were.

No, please don't. Read her stuff first -- you'll be interested in checking up on the "real" Mary Frances Kennedy Fisher later. Priscilla: I too adore strong personalities, especially if they look like ivan(giant Wub.) Whittier -- girl from the OC tell us more. What geographical/demographic/astrological factors would make Whittier produce both MFK and Julia Child? I also know that you had a personal correspondence with MFK (top that, anyone!) in your youth,so you saw a part of her we didn't. It's hard for me -- I love unconditionally. You kick me to the curb, as learning about Fisher's later life did, the iron enters into my soul.

Hmmm. My grandmother McArthur was born and died in Glencoe, which I'm fairly sure is close to where your seniors live. Gammy lived on a farm for part of that time, and I remember her cooking and meal planning as Good as it Gets. Not flashy, but delicious -- the homegrown veg, fruits and chickens didn't hurt, of course. She certainly served rice and pasta. But given your situation and suggestions from others: has anyone mentioned salmon patties? Canned salmon works just fine, and it should be served with a parsley speckled bechemel. Speaking of parsley, parsley buttered potatoes go well with the salmon cakes -- and I'm with you: butter please! Chicken or pork schnitzel would go down well, I think -- lots of Hungarian and Polish immigrants in those parts. But in the end, tasty plain food will triumph -- please let us know the details.

A little clarification might be necessary re my heretical post: 1) I think MFK is a terrific writer and almost required reading for both eaters and writers. 2) I read with enjoyment the works of much greater scumbags than Mary Frances ever was. 3)But said scumbags haven't spent most of their writing lives on an extended autobiography which borders on hagiography. I worshipped Fisher as a young woman, and that's where the "manipulation" comes in -- it's hard when a personal hero is tarnished. OK, I'll pull out my copy and read along;maybe I'll have changed my mind.

I can't think of a good reason the caramelized garlic and Reisling vinegar wouldn't be fabulous. I want some right now.

I read MFK in my early twenties. I was astonished that someone else knew about the mandarin oranges on the radiator trick -- I thought I'd discovered it myself. I think MFK is best read in youth, when you can be blown away by her prose. In middle age the actual content is terrifically painful,sad, and self-indulgent. Reading her various biographies show that she, like Elizabeth David, was a right bitch. I can't tell you how much that reeled me back. MFK is indespensible reading. I've worn out two copies. But I have no desire to be manipulated by her again.

The Beaver Club. Sigh. It was my first "fancy" restaurant . I was twelve and dazzled. I have no comment on the current state of the cuisine because my last visit there was in the bar when I was eighteen, drinking a martini with my parents. I do know, because my parents return there every year for their anniversary dinner (after some healthful high-end retail therapy at Ogilvies) that the FOH is fantastic. They had dinner there on their honeymoon and they are treated like minor royalty -- the Maitre d' hotel remembers them, asks about the family, comps them them tiny stuff, presents a special cake for two, takes their picture. It makes for happiness.

I'm still stuck on this. Family style? Not in my family. Of course my mother (and I) make enough sides for everyone to share, but courses come out in sequence at the correct time and temperature. Granted the most cooking I do is for a largeish dinner party, but restaurants should have the staff and experience to do this for a room. Bizarre.

I think the raison d'etre of cupcake fancy is well described in the title of this ancient topic. I watch no TV, have never seen Sex and the City, and don't think that New York City and Manhattenites own cupcakes and the cupcake gestalt. I have to say that of all the sexist patronizing terms for women, I like Cupcake best. Cupcakes are like anything else: make your own! Grab Martha Stewart or Dorie Greenspan (for two) and bake and frost cupcakes! (Um, I bought a Wilton cupcake stand before Christmas. It was on sale, I swear.) The cupcakes I see most often at work are the insanely popular cupcakes from the Target across the street -- inedible with their shortening tub frosting, but terribly cute -- they're ornamented with tiny Snoopies. A bakery that produced something moist, something buttery, something tasty -- and cute? Gold mine. They could charge twice what that SATC place charges.

You can do an impulse buy airport ton o' trash -- a Patricia Cornwell here, a Tom Clancy there. So what? It's what felt right at the time. With an impulse buy cookbook there's at least a small chance you'll be happy to have it around in a year.

I read about an Emeril roast recently, and Bourdain's contribution was amusing. After discussing Batali's deal with NASCAR, the cookwear line etc. he said something like: "Mario's every man's dream: a whore who can cook." I think Chris is right about the Lifestyle thing -- I watched TV for the first time this year in a couple of hotel rooms over Christmas. This crap made me yearn for the old reconstructed Martha Stewart -- people twitted her about Lifestyle, but she was actually about information. Gardening, rewireing chandeliers , cooking -- in retrospect, she wasn't about lifestyle nearly as much as Ina and Mario and Paula are.

I read my way through Michel Richard's Happy in the Kitchen today, and it was gripping reading. If only I had a damn meat slicer Another cookbook I read for the fun , the gentle tone and the excellent info is Scott Peacock's The Gift of Southern Cooking. He gives Dame Edna Lewis co-credit, but it's really his book. The recipes are rock solid delicious. Jane Grigson is a culinary Jane Austen. I'm especially fond of Food with the Famous.

Let me add my thanks, Janet. This document is a real treasure.

244,882. Good work! Make that 244, 884 -- we got our McGee this Christmas and the Michel Richard, which looks like a whole lotta fun

Steven, there are the oenos of the world who live to match and pair and swirl and yack about the subtleties, and then there folks like us who are happy with a couple of bottles of good wine with a holiday dinner, or any dinner. Asking a serious wine person to curb her enthusiam and molecular matching tendencies is like asking the NHL to ban slashing -- it ain't gonna happen. We can enjoy her expertise at her house, or when she's taking us out to dine, but we don't have to march in her Manolos. I enjoy that passion and o/c wine behaviour in others, but never feel that I have to emulate it. For one, I can't afford it.

I'm back from Canada, to this wonderful bouquet of posts. Ann T could almost pass for Quebecoise , so lovely are her tourtieres. My mother was in the hospital for our entire stay -- she got sprung the day we left. No Marilyn McArthur tourtiere, but she'd laid in a couple of the caribou/cranberry variety from Les Fougeres, across the river in Quebec, along with the Les F 12 buck beans, worth every cent. We had the best time we could without her, the Queen of Christmas. Tourtiere is a great funky New Year's Eve dish as well, lolling on the sideboard amidst your sushi and sous vide. There's nothing about it not to love.

Tourtiere Bonne Femme Serves 6 as Main Dish. Bienvenue a Quebec! Joyeux Noel. Tourtiere Belle Femme Filling: Marilyn McArthur/Jehane Benoit Hybrid 1-1/2 lbs. ground pork 2 medium potatoes, grated 1 small onion, grated or chopped molecularly fine 1/2 t salt 1/4 t ground clove, or to taste 1/2 t savory Pinch of nutmeg Pinch of celery salt 1/2 C water Combine the ingredients in a medium frying pan and cook for about thirty minutes. Grey the meat, do not brown it. Chunk up the pork with a spatula: you don’t want lumps, you want a fine uniform mix. Stick in the fridge to cool off -- room temperature minimum. Pastry: Patched from two recipes by Jehane Benoit 2 C all purpose flour 1-1/2 t baking powder 1/2 t salt 1/4 t celery salt 1/2 t savory 1-1/2 t lemon juice 1/4 t turmeric 1 large egg, beaten 5-1/3 oz (150 g) lard, cut into pieces 1/2 C boiling water In a food processor, pulse the dry ingredients, herbs and spices until combined. Add 2/3 of the lard and pulse until it resembles coarse crumbs -- about 8 pulses. Add the remaining lard to the boiling water off the stove -- stir until melted. Beat in the lemon juice and egg. With the motor running, add to the flour mixture and turn off immediately. Knead briefly on a floured surface, wrap and refrigerate for at least four hours. Roll out the bottom crust in a standard pie pan, preferably Pyrex. Smooth in the pork filling, spread the top crust thereon. Slash, decorate, and bake in a 350 oven for 35 to 45 minutes. Remove when the pastry is puffed slightly, golden and crispy. Let stand for at least 15 minutes before serving. Keywords: Main Dish, Intermediate, Pork, Dinner, Tart, Food Processor, Christmas ( RG1901 )

I'm going to bookmark this jelly post and make it in the new year. It sounds just amazing and versatile.

Susan, I'm off to bed feeling deeply unworthy. What a domestic goddess you are! I love the potstcker idea -- I craft a pretty potstcker myself. 2007, maybe.

Dear Porthos: You might want to check out this thread: cookbooks are crack to lots of folks in these parts!

122,022. Sorry, your calculatrix has been remiss lately! Make that 122,025 -- Ive acquired three myself.

Can I be your wife's new girlfriend? We women , of course, know nothing about wine and are just thrilled to get free plonk that we can drink in the jacuzzi while we discuss our husband's performance. And lack of. It's a blast. Or just save it for cooking when the hoi polloi are coming for dinner.

Me too.