maggiethecat

I have, and it works a fair treat. I've found that cooking up some bacon a couple of times is all the seasoning most cast iron skillets require.

Repeat like mantra: Tenderflake is great, Crisco is just fine. Muffin tins are fine. It's just pastry: all you have to do is watch the water content; it can't be too sticky, but you shouldn't have too many dry bits in the bottom of the bowl. Go lard! Or grated beef suet. Or Crisco, or butter. A light hand, no stress...you'll be fine.

77,287. And what about all those Amazon and Borders and B & N gift certificates you reaped during the holidays? The second retail season is here, folks.

77,279. And like Suzanne, I take vicarious pleasure in reading who got what!

I knew the word "scrambled" rang a distant gong, so I pulled out "Mastering the Art, Vol.I". Madame Child had it right there: Omelette Brouillee [scrambled Omelet] The eggs, says Julia "will become a light broken custard."

77,203. The holidays have been good to us.

77,191. 14.61 miles.

76,941. Blovie, I agree about the plenitude de porc in Les Halles, but there are a solid beef and fish sections too. And you don't have to add lardons to everything, much as I adore them. The onion soup, for example, would be wonderful without them -- hey, Pepin doesn't use them is his recipe.

What a boffo Boxing Day spread you've got happening, Marlene! And, hmmm, Good Girls get diamond bracelets. (Or maybe that's Bad Girls.) I am thrilled, delighted and encouraged that your pastry was perfect. Another cooking basic mastered! Bon appetit to you all.

76936, including the new Bourdain and Pepin. OK, folks, time to list your Christmas booty!

Marlene, just a favor--when the cleaners are done at your place, would you mind shooing them over here? Cleaners! I am so jealous--and needy. The house is a mess, and the daughter is flying in from L.A. at about six o'clock. Poor Honor - I wonder if she remembers what -4 feels like! I was thinking about you as I rolled out my pastry for the mince tarts and tourtiere(which is my Christmas Eve tradition.) Here's my truc: roll out your pastry between lightly floured sheets of plastic wrap or waxed paper. It combines the virtues of less mess, less flour needed to dust the pastry, and easier lifting onto the pin when you pick it up. Merry Christmas to you and your Lads, MEB!

My Canadian sister: Just remember that Pecan Pie, however delicious, is just a misbegotten Butter Tart! No worries.

It's eight degrees here, the wind shrieking through the ill-fitting cheapo doors and windows that came with our cheapo early 80s house. I can crank up the thermostat to ninety, and it's still impossible to get the temperature much over sixty-eight. So I took stock of my freezer and avaiable supplies: looks like a pork stew braised in stock and dry hard cider is on the menu for tonight. That's after we venture forth to buy a tree, get it decorated, attach it with guy wires to the curtain hardware and take bets on how soon a preadolescent tomcat will bring down the shimmering Yuletide totem. I might slip a pan of biscuits into the oven between batches of Christmas cookies.

75,982. I'm so glad Blovie turned up trumps with the holiday prezzies! (Note to self: Get Cotton Country Collection.)

75,439.

75,422. This includes one for me: A 1923 second edition of Jessie Conrad's A Handbook for Cookery for a Small House.

My Nonno and Nonna-in-law were two insufferably stuck-up Toscani immigrants living in what they considered the great unwashed of the Chicago Neapolitan/Sicilian population. Sugo, ragu, salsa -- no matter with what luscious red stuff Nonna dressed the pasta , it was sauce. If you weren't from Lucca you could say gravy, but they'd sneer: Sicilian! and roll their eyes.

My condolences as well. When someone at my workplace suggests a potluck people show up with store-bought stuff, and I don't mean Dean and Delucca's. Sheet cakes, "veggie tray", chips and salsa and industrial cookies. The sad thing is that they don't expect anything else! My devilled eggs go over big, as do my mac and cheese and sausage biscuits.

Susan, I'm jealous. Damn jealous. I can't imagine a better time -- you even fitted a yarn shop in there! Bacon at three am with your girlfriends - that's living large. I agree that tapas is a finicky thing to pack for, but I'm hungry just thinking about the chicken soup, the pear salad, the wine and the long easy companionship. You are very lucky, and deserving. !For the first time ever I let the pumpkin pie sit on the counter. It still tasted great, and no one got died.)

The manager of my local TJs told me that the size and selection of fresh produce and meat is at the discretion of each store manager. In the 3-4 years that I've been shopping there the produce section has doubled, although it's still small. When I shopped at my daughter's (much larger) Trader Joe's in LA, it was more laike a full-service grocery store. TJ's has the best frozen fish and desserts I've found anywhere, at the best prices. I would never think of it as a one-stop shop groceteria - it's where you go for fun stuff.

75,267. Good grief, that is a poopload of cookbooks. Actually, 75,268. I sent Jacques Pepin's "Celebrations" to an eGull who hasn't found time to post it here. And I'm starting to feel like the shoemaker's wife! Time for me to hit Amazon and rustle me up some inspiration.

Utterly charming. Soooo cute, and truly tasty, I'm sure. Could you back up a little and discuss the cool garnish? Pressed fried turkey skin is something I want t to know more about.

Cherchez le chat--the domestic kittycat will invariably find the warnest corner in the house in deepest February. In my house, it't the utility room off my kitchen, which contains the furnace, the hot water heater and the washer and dryer. I cover the bowl well and snuggle the dough down between Hector and Willow atop the dryer.

Jess: Triple creme brie is a tell. Lay in some red wine and Advil --- fast. If possible retire to your couch with something by Josephine Tey, Georgette Heyer or Carl Hiasson.

Marlene: It's too late now, but I am infamous on these boards for recommending Seagram's gin for martinis. Keep the money in Canada, and the first sip of a martini should feel like a slap on the face! The caterers have done their thing, you've been to the salon and look gorgeous ....enjoy! Susan:Your menu is beautiful, as is your foresight. But, in any busy happy situation, you can almost count on at least one kid throwing up. (Think hard: Girlfriend Weekend)