maggiethecat

I don't know diddley about eminent domain, but I do know that Surfas is the greatest kitchen supply/food store I've ever strolled, and I've strolled a few. It was a high point of my last trip to LA. This can't happen!

← You beat me to it, Chris. My husband was so enchanted by the story that I might have my very own milking parlor in the Green Mountains. My supermarket doesn't offer organic milk, but it has two kinds of pricey organic eggs in complicated plastic containers -- lose the packaging, Dudes, and shave fifty cents off the price of a dozen. One kind is free range, the other isn't. Romantic fool that I am, you know the dozen I buy. I can get farm eggs -- beauties and cheap --organic, but as the farmer told me: semi-free range. Steven, the journey of a thousand miles, etc. I agree that parents who buy Count Chockula should have to go through something like Driving School or AA, but if they're doing one thing right, it's a start. Confession: I'm too busy getting a free peek at the Enquirer while I'm waiting in line to snoop in other people's carts. Besides, I know what they'll contain: Six liters of on sale Pepsi, Pokemon Mac and Cheese, and twelve Lean Cuisines. If there's a carton of organic eggs in there, it makes me happy. It's something.

Jeez, have you checked out Maggie on Sunday morning? And have you considered a sliced cornichon swizzler? We in Chicago demand relish in our Weinertinis.

You are a smart man with WAY too much time on your hands. Hotdogs and vodka, two of my least favorite things. But I love the garnish, love the sceptical cat. Cubs or Sox?

Dear Tarte: Please do! I want to hear more about this. I'm intrigued. I remember the trout story as clearly now as when I read it for the first time twenty years ago -- that's good writing.

118,381.

118,380.

Alinka: You've put to rest forever all the Soviet era browns and greys and GUM. It was instructive and a true pleasure to follow your blog.

xRight on every count. Mary Frances was a great writer, maybe the mother of all modern food writing. But she's better in medium doses, lest her Drama annoy the heck out of you. And yes --get the anthology. It's a treasure.

Yuck. Brilliant.

My first cookbook was the "Peanuts Cook Book" featuring Charlie Brown and the gang. I still remember the first recipe I made from it which I believe was called "Apple Brown Lucy" (it couldn't have been called "Apple Brown Betty" could it? I didn't think Lucy Van Pelt would have allowed that). My mom was impressed and quickly moved me onto prepping dinner when I got home from school. We became latchkey kids when my mom eventually returned to the workplace and it fell to my oldest brother and me to start dinner when we got home from junior high and, later, high school, using instructions my mom left taped to a kitchen cupboard. I bought the cookbook myself while I was in elementary school . I thank Scholastic Books for publishing the title and providing very affordable books for kids. ← ou stor Oh my gosh, a Peanuts cookbook! That takes me back, Toliver, and your story about the Apple Brown Lucy resonates: in MFK speak, successfully cooking that first dish from a cookbook was an early Measure of our Powers. And I'm so with you about Scholastic Books: cheap, interesting stuff. Growing up as I did in a place where books in English were non-existent, their offerings were catnip. They deserve "Harry Potter."

Chocolate, dammit. Heartburn, unseemly frequent trips to the Ladies, throat on fire.

I've learned that the food at eG get-togethers exceeds in quality and quantity anyone's wildest dreams. This weekend proves it one more time. My heart aches that I couldn't make it. tino: You are inspirational -- all that magnificent bread with a home baker setup. All we need is your knowledge and passion.

Holy jumping catfish, ronnie, that brisket is superb. I won't trade away my firstborn but anything else is negotiable.

De gustibus -- I say sams and zukes and Tex-Mex -- even mouthfeel. I don't use incent as a verb and I know the difference between bring and take, but I don't dismiss folks who don't. The language is a living thing, and it's a choice to use certain words or phrases.

118,360. Great scores all. Wait! Make that 118,361. I picked up Elinor Kiivan's cupcakes! yesterday.

118,349.

I'm really late to this party -- coffee and port time. I haven't read every post, the way I missed the really good dinner chatter, and I'm just going to comment on the "depressing" covers. I love them-- uncluttered and focussed. They catch the eye, which is what they' re meant to do. (And I stick to my ooinion that Martha Stewart Living has the best photography, food or otherwise, of any mainstream mag.)

Pontormo: This is why eG rocks and rolls -- someone else does the research for you. Grazie tanti, Cara. Nonna didn't have handy access to Swiss Chard -- I have it easier. My husband is bemused by the parm, and the quichelike quality, but he admit it sounds good, and familiar. If you've read Buford's Heat, you know he makes a case for all Tuscan food being Brown. I think this torta is greenish brown.

No more so than any other segment of the population. I'd even say less so. In fact, the more I think about it, my 'foodie friends' possess none of those negative qualities. To the contrary, they are convivial, accepting, inclusive, welcoming, knowledgeable, adventuresome and open-minded. And a hell of a lot of fun. I think there's something about being interested in, and sharing, food that lends itself to more positive traits in the best of the "come break bread with me" tradition. And you'd be invited to any of their gatherings anytime. Unless of course you yourself are snobby, elitist, trendy, fussy, etc. And probably, even then. ← Brava, Jaymes! I think your two posts are so right-on I won't try to add more. Er, edited to add: The Foodie, Food-Crazy or Gourmand makes up 95% of my family and friends. To me, it counts as normal.

I am pretty sure you are looking for the Torta verde della Lucchesia, typical from Lucchesia and Lunigiana, also known as Torta d'Erbi (yes, erbi not erbe). The recipe I have saved in my files has zucchini and spinach . Also in Viareggio is typical a sweet cake with zucchini that is called scarpaccia ← As it happens my Nonna-in-law married a Lucchese, so this makes sense.

Steven, I can't comment on bizarre takeout and delivery experiences because it just isn't the same here on the prairie. Any place I'd go for takeout is a walk away. But I laughed about your celery/carrot conundrum and was jealous that you've shed the cubicle. I would have bought a bucket of Dean's Cajun Ranch Dip and taken the veg and dip to work.

For research for a piece I'm writing, and for my father-in-law whose mother's (lost) recipe it was, I'm wondering if someone one knows about this dessert confection. My FIL says it was definitely a dessert treat, not some kind of quiche-like tart. It had a double crust and was heavy on the spinach. It was sublime, I'm told.

I can't say better than Rachel did. Buy your girl this book, please. I contains good science. Your sweetie is courting health problems.