Nick

Suzanne, I'm sitting here thinking about that. My parents had the whole collection and the Scandinavian one was the only one they kept when they moved to the Florida Keys. But, I am happy to have this one as well as it's little companion volume which is just the recipes.

From, "The Cooking of Scandinavia" "They [danish women] are always careful to use the right bread, not any piece will do. The prefered type of bread is sour rye, dark, moist, tight in texture, only an eighth of an inch or so thick. It is always buttered evenly and thickly, since the butter acts as a juiceproof seal. Oddly, the sour rye flavor of the finished sandwich does not call attention to itself, but rather acts as a sort of catalyst to the other flavors. White bread with a hard crust is usually employed for smørrebrød only when the topping is to be shrimp, lobster, smoked salmon, or sometimes cheese." The sandwiches are generally eaten with knife and fork. The above title was written by Dale Brown and was part of a Time-Life series back in the sixties. My father (a Dane) got it as a complimentary copy. It's a really interesting book with lots of info and many recipes. For Danish sandwich recipes on line Go Here. Edit: Anna I was typing this while you were making your post. Looks like I haven't had anything to add what you just wrote. Nick

Boiled a potato, poured the potato water off, then used it to quick boil some corn I'd sliced off the cob and frozen earlier this year. Potato and corn accompanied by a very quickly (hot pan) fried wild deer steak. Dipped the corn out of the water and will use the water (stock) to make a miso soup with one or two large Gulf shrimp tomorrow.

We've tested this setting on a bunch of systems and it seems to be what most people like. Text size issues in Web design are fairly complex and there are many schools of thought. We might make an adjustment, but not any time soon. However, if your browser is Mozilla (which we recommend), just use ctrl+ and ctrl- to increase or decrease the text size. BTW, in the future, would you mind posting such comments in Site Comments so that we can keep threads like this one on-topic? Thanks. Didn't mean to get you worked up, FG. I use Opera and can easily hit magnification in the upper right corner. Just thought I'd throw it out in case others were thinking the same thing as I was. And I stand duly chastised. I will never again go OT when we're dealing with somebody famous.

Cut a squash in half top to bottom and take the seeds out. Scrape it with large spoon to get it clean. Do not peel. Place the halves open-side down on a rack in a baking pan. I put a little water in the bottom of the pan to steam the squash at first - but just a little so that it boils away and then the squash bakes or roasts. The oven should be at around 400F. When a fork will pierce the skin easily, turn the squash over being careful not to get burned. Also, if you check the squash while it's still steaming be very careful not to put your face close to the oven door when you open it. Steam hurts. So, after it's turned over, bake it until it's just about done. Then slide the rack out and put a little butter and maple syrup in the cup of the squash. Push back in the oven for a minute or two. Make sure to turn the oven off. Maybe have mommy or daddy help you the first time. Nick Edit: After I posted this I thought maybe 11 y/o is a little too old for "mommy or daddy". Maybe it should have been "mother or father". There's a change-over point at some age but I can't remember where it is. Toby - that sounds good. Especially the piece of pear and nutmeg addition.

Am I the only one that would like to see the font, typeface, a little larger (in the article)?

Not quite. But keep trying.

I don't recall it as being a lisp. Just different. Correct pronounciation?

My Spanish teacher in prep school, right from the beginning, insisted that Castillian was the only "true" Spanish. And that was what we were drilled in. Unfortunately, after all his good lessons so many years ago, I can't remember much now.

Ah Suvir, You've brought back memories of my childhood in the country (NH). My mother, even though we were not poor, would cut up the brown paper bags from the store and use the paper for baking, draining the doughnuts, and covering schoolbooks. But, the doughnuts! That's what brought back the memories of what you just said. Draining on the brown paper and they were so good. I couldn't have a doughnut just as they came out, but I could eat the holes. I loved the holes. Wax paper was for covering the counter (especially for flouring), wrapping some things for the fridge, and wrapping my sandwich for school. Which brings me to the bean sandwiches my mother would make on Mondays and Tuesdays from the beans she'd baked on Saturday. Man those were good. And her sandwiches made with leftover meatloaf! Now, see where a simple discussion of wax paper can go?

Suvir, You certainly took my earlier experiment with boiling water to a higher level. That was a great piece of work in our quest to understand wax paper. Really, it was great. I just got out a box of Cut-rite (by Reynolds) and found a number of things on the box. "Tops for microwave." "Easy to remove.. Won't stick to food or dishes like some plastic wraps can." "Line countertops when mixing, measuring, grating, or breading." "Separate meats for freezing with wax paper." No mention or suggestion that it should be used around heat other than microwave.

I'd say two or three slices fit comfortably and it's all I want when reheating. And I note with seriousness your note. I threw in the brand name because it does seem a little better than other toaster ovens I've known. But, it's not worth the ridiculous price they put on them. The pans warp when heated over 3-350F and they're a bitch to clean. Impossible would be a better word. But, it works good.

Tommy, what kind of pizzas are you getting that end up with a soggy crust? And really, the toaster oven (mine's a Cuisinart) is the way to go. It's small and heats up fast. Edit: I do bring it up to temp before putting in the pizza.

We've got a pretty good pizza guy here in Waldoboro. He recommends 350F, but I've gotten into 325. Toaster oven. It depends on what you've got for toppings. If it's loaded, do it slower. The main thing, I think, is moisture control. If it's got wet stuff, maybe like Jason said, zap it at 400. But if it's got lots of stuff on it and you want to get everything hot, turn it down or the top stuff will be burned before the center stuff gets hot. IMHO. Edit: Fg's got an idea worth trying. Just wouldn't have it too close to the broiler.

Mamster, thanks for bringing this back to the top. I'd missed it when it was going on. Now I'm hungry for some of this. I've been trying to do Cuban pork for quite awhile with no real success - nobody (Cuban) wants to part with the recipe. I think this (Carnitas) is something I want to try. Jaymes, and others, thanks for the ideas. And, Angel, that was a nice picture you drew for me about your neighbors.

Angel - That's something else. Twelve years old reading Michael Field, knowing where to get the best stuff, sharpening knives.... You've got a future chef on your hands. Dynamite! Keep us posted.

Okay, water-taxi.

I'm with Toby.

Hitch-hike? Sorry, my fellow Mainer, I couldn't resist.

It's best to start with good "seed" garlic. Known stock. After that you can keep planting from what you grow. I bought some good garlic from someone that makes his living from garlic 5-6 years ago. Susie has been planting it ever since and it always turns out pretty well. Much better than is available in most stores. Here in Maine you always plant the garlic in the fall. The next year it grows. Remember to plant the cloves individually (right side up) and not the whole bulb.

I can't imagine using canned beans. What brands are you using?

Yes. If they're to be cooked they should attain a certain degree of "ripeness." It develops a flavor that is lacking in a fresh scallop. I should add that we never deep fry scallops as it tends to diminish the flavor of the scallop. Really fresh scallops are best appreciated raw. Kim - Mutton is short for Muttonchops. Twenty or thirty years ago it was the custom here for young fishermen to get tagged with "nicknames." Hence, we also have among others - Spider, Reverend, Animal, Biscuit, Fingers, Turtle, Shag, Bimbo, Bugler, etc. Unfortunately, Bugler just passed on. No one could shuck scallops better or party harder. I've never, in over thirty five years of guitar playing, played with anyone that had a singing voice so powerful and always on key. Into the wee hours of the morning, partying and playing in a kitchen, Bugler would never lose pitch, even though by then he might have broken all but two strings on his flatop. And when Gloria, his wife, would join him in harmony - it was glorious. If a couple of their daughters joined in it was heaven. And if Georgie, son-in-law, was there with his fiddle and we were playing blues.........it didn't get any better. Georgie bought it maybe ten years ago when he got wrapped up in the shaft on his lobster boat. Took two lobster boats loaded with friends out to the fishing grounds where he used to catch shark, and Bugler and I played guitars in the stern while others sang and read home-written poetry as his ashes were spread on the water along with yellow roses. I'll never forget those yellow roses floating on the water as the swells came and went. Run on for awhile, haven't I? Figured I try to pass on a little from the Maine coast that few get to know.

Of course. I don't care for it myself so I sent it off to Basildog.

I'm pretty sure it's Lundberg. Get it out of the bin at the coop. It's been coming through pretty clean lately without much green at all.

Kit, I hadn't thought of grilled cheese but I bet it goes good with pea soup. Jaymes - I don't know which ham end to recommend. The shank end seems to have a nice little bone and the rump end has better meat. BTW, who wants to take 6# of good ham meat off my hands after this experiment? Kim, those ham bones don't amount to porn. I bet if Tony B. wants to get in here he'll show us real bone porn.