maggiethecat

I have a collection of giveaway hotel shower caps that I rinse and reuse. Susan: Boning chicken thighs is one of my unfavorite kitchen tasks -- it's not that hard but it always seems to take longer than it needs to, and it's slippery. Yeah, I need the bones and all, but I've found that my local carcineria often sells s/b thighs crazy cheap, like 69 cents a pound. Can hardly wait to compare your butts, y'all.

The Good Humor truck wends its way through ourhood May through September, and I'm happy to see it, even though I'm awful sick of the first eight bars of the "Arkansas Traveller." I smile when I see tiny kids running like mad down the street, their parents proceeding at a more sedate pace. These children are delighted -- happy. It's a big deal and a treat. I doubt that this ice cream is good enough to contain much fat anyway. Lord love us: feed your kids real food instread of Lunchables and frozen pizza most of the time and I doubt the ice cream truck will add an ounce. Tragic and stupid.

Snap! Thinner is not better unless you own a brick-lined professional pizza oven. For a grilled pizza you need a middle way: rolling out the dough or stetching it too thin makes it more like a flatbread than a pizza. All your discouraging words, and Marlene's, don't take away from the fact that you've provided us pix of some molta bella pizzas. Try it in better weather.

But is there a better way to bond with your teenager? The pizza looks wonderful, and I suspect that the weather is the major factor for this being a PIA. In good weather, you can stash your topping on some kind of staging area near the grill, and after the flip (I use my hands) there's no dashing back and forth to the kitchen -- you can top your pizza as it languishes on the grill. (Trust me: In ten years, when Ryan, future Society Member, is posting on the "How I Ate Growing Up Thread," he'll mention grilling those pizzas in the rain with his Mum.)

We did our first pizza on the grill a couple of years ago and the stunning bit was that there was no disaster -- it was a magic walk in the park. Nothing stuck, dough didn't collapse into the grill, it lifted and turned perfectly! And it was fun. And the results have been consistently excellent every time we've tried it since. No worries, guys.

Thanks for all your ideas, and thanks, francois, for mentioning Le Baccara, where I had one of the best meals of my adult life a few years ago. I like the idea of L'Oree du Bois for lunch. Any other ideas? I'd better get on the phone, credit card in hand, tomorrow.

You catch on quick, Tim -- no flies on this lad. In North America "supper" used as a posh term is almost unheard of. It's, yes, the main evening meal if the midday meal provided most of the calories, nutrition and ceremony. It's not about class.( I think.)

My current fave is rachette -- tennis rackets. Radiatore-style, but you're so ready for the Italian Open.

My Mum is pretty well set up for flowers, perfume, Georgian sterling dinnerware, fine art, theatre tickets, etc. Good for her! But it does make a daughter pause. I'd like to give her a restaurant gift certificate so she and Daddy can go out for a bangup lunch. Suggestions, please? They lunched at Urban Pear and Les Fougeres last week, so I'm taking them out of the rotation. My usual MO is the calling the concierge at the Chateau Laurier for info on spas, florists, etc. but eGullet is more reliable for dining recs. (The 'rents live in the Glebe, but they get around.) Edited to add: I'm not looking for a Mother's Day Brunch thing, just a nice lunch at a later date.

Gammon and Gangrene. Sigh, OF, what a treasure. I have two cookbooks I admire but would actually use more often if the format was more user friendly: Sally Schneider's New Way to Cook and Shirley Corriher's Cookwise. I always feel as if I need a miner's helmet to find a recipe. The index --there's room for a doc dissertation there. The woman who taught me to cook (excepting Mummy) Julia Child: it's possible to have too complete an index. It takes me back to some high school exercice: Roman numeral, caps, arabic numeral, lower case, subheadings. There are often five divisions and it's easy to drown. But that's the funky annoying charm of a good cookbook. As we forgive the ones we love, and adjust, so it is with indexes.

Expensive for a family of five, but Jason has it right. A few nights of r and r and eating takeout food and you'll be back in the kitchen PDQ.

Fish or mush.

I'd agree on both points, and I prefer back-to-the-wall across- the- table with anyone I'm dining with. I want to see my dear buddy's face. For lovers who haven't seen each other for awhile, side-by-side at a banquette is darned romantic: easier to hold hands, play footsie, examine decolletage, play kneesies, slip hand under hemline.

Oh poor Susan, what a rotten week. But take comfort in the fact that many of are deserted by the mojo from time to time -- a string of disappointing meals, injuries, equipmwnt failures. And along with health, career and financial woes, the Bard has it right: it's never a single spy, it's battalions. I think you took the first step today: you said: to heck with it, go forage, folks. Take out your knitting, rent a few movies and give yourself a few days off. Breakfast for dinner for a few nights, or soup and a sandwich, maybe some Chinese carryout. Or announce that it's sandwich week -- BLTs, paninis, cubanos, grilled cheezers. Carrot sticks, simple salads for veg. Go to the library and take out a cookbook in an area you're not too familiar with, which will be difficult for you, but say, English Cookery . Something plain, unexotic and spinglike -- simple country French. You'll get excited about something and by the time next weekend rolls around you'll be the Kitchen Ninja Princess you are. And always, think about opening the Cabin!

Dear Klary: Deep Breath -- all will be well. Your charm, your food and your friends will make this a party to remember for many many years. (Maybe someone will bring a desserty birthday present, chocolate or liquer, say!) Happy Birthday. This blog is like a brithday present to all your fans here at eGullet.

Women like BCP too, but men are mad about it. Dead serious, Brooks is accurate:in my experience, Boston Cream Pie trumps every wile of womanhood -- Botox, garter belts, a Great Personality or cute tummybutton. Pull out your Fanny Farmer, ladies. I am very fond of pie.

Well, if someone's mentioned this upthread, I apolgize. I'll say it again: I've never met a man who wasn't mad aboout that misnamed cake: Boston Cream Pie. I just had a frightening and sad thought: are our sons even aware of the existence of BCP? Edited to add: Priscilla: Snap!

Pam, that made my day. I giggled like mad. I'll find the calculator tomorrow. Beddy byes now.

Martha Stewart says that she always uses a pinch of sugar.

Hey, great crust, great flavor! That's what counts. Fruit pies are always a tad tricky. My grandmother swore by minute tapioca. Big ups for a gorgeous dinner. I want that gravy.

Marlene: Your dinner looks simply splendid, and the bit about the table-setting was truly evocative. Thank you. Did you toss the apples with a little flour or cornstarch? The raw fruit usually needs a little starchy binder. But, man, that's a beautiful pie!

Now that's brilliant, Ingrid. I love your Sunday dinner tradition. I've been musing more since this piece went up than while I was writing it. I am a Shiksa lurker on the What we're Cooking for Shabbos thread and considering the spiritual connection. My observant Jewish and Muslim friends have feast days tied to thier faiths and observe them. Even my most religious Christian friends don't. I have NO DESIRE to see this become a religious/political platform for anyone, but I if there are any preachers, seminarians or bishops out there, feel free to wade in. Chicken tostadas from Rick Bayless tonight.)

Just yesterday I was checking out my rampaging sorrel ans regretting that I still was clueless. bavila, thanks for bumping the thread,and all, thanks for your ideas. Keep 'em coming.

Serious porn, Abra. I'm sticky in places I never knew I had. You tha Woman.

This is a braise not a roast, but as pork is pointlessly lean these days the recipe is reliable –tender meat and gravy so good you’ll slap your Momma. It’s a Danish recipe (cholesterol alert!) from the Time-Life “Cooking of Scandinavia.” Pull out a covered casserole not too much larger than your roast – great use of your Le Creuset. Turn the oven to 350. Cut a lengthwise pocket with a long sharp knife that comes within one inch of the sides of the roast. Stuff with prunes (sorry, dried plums!) and smallish chunks of fresh apple... Dry off the roast and brown in the casserole – 3T butter, 3 T canola. It can take up to twenty minutes to get in browned on all sides. Pour off the fat, or suck it out with a bulb baster. Add a teaspoon of salt, ¾ cup white wine, ¾ cup heavy cream. Stir up the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Cover her up and put it in the oven for up to an hour and a half –until tender when pierced with the tip of a knife. (Check that the liquid isn’t boiling down too quickly. If it is, top it up with a mixture of wine and water.) Let the meat rest on a platter, then boil down the sauce to one cup, stirring occasionally. Ingredient alert: Stir in a tablespoon of red currant jelly. If unavailable, apricot, cherry or plum preserves work well. Actually, a jamless version is still wonderful, but that fruity whiff is so Danish. Be prepared to fight your family for the sauceboat. You won’t have much left over, but if you do it’s the filling for the Best Sandwich Ever.