maggiethecat

oMy mother made that lemon pudding at least once a fortnight, and it was cause for kiddie rejoicing. Maybe it's a retro dessert in need of reviving!

What she said! I know it might seem like an extra step to enter the recipe at Recipe Gullet first, them return to describe its wonders and post a link... But! that's how these wonderful recipes don't get lost. I adore Green Goddess too, and don't make it often enough. Je suis un peu snob, mais j'adore un peu de ketchup dans Vinaigrette des Milles Iles.

I admired the book, and tried to get a chapter for Daily Gullet until I found out that VF was paying him money for it. It's intelligent and well-written.

We're all in luck, Rebecca! Keep checking Daily Gullet in the upcoming weeks.

That's funny. Seriously.

Those are called "Irma's Butterscotch Squares" on the handwritten recipe card my Mum gave me when I was married. Dead easy, and fabulous. A shibboleth for Canadians living on the States -- the folks here call squares "bars." After decades south of the forty-ninth I still slip up.

Dear CC: I am Editorial Director of The Daily Gullet and I'm reading this feeling that somehow I've failed at my job. It's wonderful, and if I were an agent or a publisher I'd be panting for Chapter Two. This is exactly the kind of writing I'm looking for. I wish you'd submitted it -- you'd have received a nice clip and a huge readership if you had. Do you have anything else lying about?

I love the chili/cornbread thing, but upon reflection, I'd drop it. These dudes will be playing cards, and they don't have an extra hand to hold a fork. I'd try to do interesting but not too challenging finger food. The pigs in blankets idea is good, as are deviled eggs. Everyone loves them. Meatballs fall into this category -- universal faves and can be chomped form a toothpick. Quesidillas would be excellent too. Bring out your wings. And any of the sandwich ideas are good. This is, oddly, an area of expertise for me. When I was a student at McGill I was cook/waitress at the toney Vanderbilt Bridge Club. These were serious card players, and they were'nt there for the gastronomic Wow! They wanted tasty, easy to eat stuff.

It should never have hit the Op-Ed page, I agree. It's not Ephron's best writing, I agree. When I read it I thought: sounds like the rant of a literate eGullet member, a demographic of which I'm very fond. Jeez, folks, we express ourselves here about dining and cooking issues at least as vocally and personally as does Nora. Unfortunately the Times doesn't pay me for my opinion and clamor to put my stuff up on Sunday. I must strongly disagree with her about dessert spoons: I own eight Georgian-era sterling Big Girls (Thanks, Mummy!) and ice cream has never tasted so good.

121,440.

tino, think of this as an opportunity to push the frontiers of bacon science and take one for the eGullet team! Freeze a quarter of the bacon, refrigerate half the bacon, and plan to use the other quarter in sandwiches, chopped salads, etc. in the next couple of days. I think that cooked bacon would last at least two weeks in the fridge and indefinitely in the freezer. To reheat, I'd sandwich the slices between paper towel and zap for a short time in the microwave. I don't think the texture will suffer if you reheat it like this. Let us know!

In my Manitoulin musings I forget to ask my question: When did you know you loved patisserie et confiserie? Was your Mum a splendid baker, or your grandmother? Who were your mentors?

Well, I got close while trying to identify the location of this blog when Susan posted the teaser pics -- I said Great Lakes. I was chickening out -- I really meant to say The Bruce, where I summered every year until I was twenty. Close enough. I'm thrilled to have this trip to Manitoulin Island, a place of myth and wonder to me when I was growing up -- I think I then believed it was completely populated by First Nations citizens. I'm confused: why can't you swerve to avoid hitting a deer? The forelegs of a deer once smashed through my windshield, and I wish, for its sake and mine, that I'd swerved!

Been there, done that. My walls, window, coffeemaker, KitchenAid, Cuiz, panini grill, cocktail shaker, toaster (and ceiling and curtains) have never recovered completely. But they smell good.

How does Japanese yogurt taste different (and better) than American yog?

Hmmmm. A Great Lakes blog?

Good luck: you'll be a stronger shopper than most. There's so much cool cheap stuff. It adds up.

Exactly so, but you might want to wait a few weeks after the opening. Ikea and Japan seem like such a perfect fit that traffic might pile up for miles. Ikea's fabulous, but quirky: the decision is almost always about price. The kitchens they sell are amazing quality for the money: my husband, who has hand-crafted several kitchens over the last twenty years now routinely directs hopeful clients to Ikea first. He deems it unfair to attempt a big job if Ikea can do it better and cheaper, which is almost always. I buy their 1.99 non-stick cheapo skillet twice a year: it's about price. A two buck pan that makes omelets every week can be discarded. For a birthday bash a few years ago we discovered that Ikea's everyday wine glasses were cheaper and nicer than plastic: say, four bucks for six. We laid in ten boxes, and in two years of regular use they were dead. No big deal. The crockery can be so cheap it makes you feel guilty about buying it, and it lasts forever. The harp-shaped Scandinavian vegetable peelers are the best price-to-value kitchen item I can think of. If you dine by candlelight , as we do, the candles are highest quality and inexpensive. But go for the fun! I want to know how Swedish meatballs and carbonated pear cider go over in Japan.

OK, I've confirmed what others have kindly pointed out: I'm a Damn Freak. Not only do I not mourn the passing of a single item on that list, I recognized maybe four of them. The closest I got to regret was Horehound Lumps, if they were close to that candy-counter Canadian confection, the Humbug. You gotta love natural selection.

Buy Marcia Adams's "Cooking from Quilt Country." A beautiful powerful book, and all the recipes work.

Heavens to Betsy: that's some seroius food miscegenation. But I have every good thought that you'll be better than fine -- you got the good bag, and you tossed it about over heat.

Bill: Thanks for taking us for a drive, as you must do for any visitor or houseguest. I'm awed -- no other word for it. No hood/fan above your stovetop? Is adobe easy to refinish?

I wonder if the stricken folks cooked it or ate it raw in salads? I'm bummed, mostly for them but also for me: bagged, washed spinach has been, for me, one of those supermarket cello products that have seemed worth buying.

What she said -- racheld is Occam's Razor. Five wubs for Fred, and the scenery is astounding. I really feel like a stranger in a strange land here, and I'm grateful for the tour. (A LDS friend from Salt Lake had a great t-shirt: "If you think our liquor laws are weird, you should see our underwear!") Three kinds of chicken salad -- oh my! (I loved the sketch and it reminded my of someone I've met: You're a more hirsute brother of Dave the Cook.)

Side Towel Chicken Origami Hey, that's not stupid: that's art!