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Nick

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Posts posted by Nick

  1. Now now. The Texans are among the best-behaved of American tourists. On the whole, I find them to be better travelers than the New Yorkers and New Jerseyites. I guarantee you, you'll never find a Texan being a pain in the ass at El Bulli with the typical New Yorker's list of special requirements: "Sauce-on-the-side, no-red-meat, shellfish-allergy, gluten-intolerant, no-peanuts, and no-carbs."

    Maybe you haven't been around Texas oil-field workers when they're out on the town. A friend of mine that worked heavy construction (jack-up barges) from Singapore to Scotland (and the Middle East) for over forty years once remarked that Arabs couldn't understand us cuz the only Americans they'd ever seen were from Texas. (With due apologies to Fifi, Jaymes, and the rest of the crew from Texas.) :biggrin:

  2. This has been an interesting thread and, so far, it seems to be that it's mostly city and urban people responding. Becoming more so with all the posts about coffee and half and half or whatever.

    Coming from the country and being fairly conservative and thereby willing to accept one never knows what might be headed one's way - think about what you might need in the cupboard if things got tight. Like all you had to eat for the next two or three months was what you had on hand.

    What's in your cupboard, or freezer, that will get you by for a couple of months?

  3. Rice

    Canned Tomatoes of various types

    Butter

    Garlic

    Yellow Onions

    Celery

    Bell Pepper

    Worchestershire

    Sea Salt

    Whole black pepper and a very efficient grinder

    Bacon

    Oh yeah, Okra. Can't ever have enough okra. :laugh:

    Geez. You'd know where this guy was from even if he wasn't Host of a particular state forum!

    But no cayenne?

    Hey Dave, Loosiana or Maine, that's the list. I'd just add dry beans, potatoes, and shallots. And meat in the freezer. :smile:

  4. I wonder how much of this has to do with people first moving to the city, and then to the suburbs. This has removed people from most any connection with the land and growing of food. For those of us who grew up in the country, and still live here, the kitchen remains the center, if not the heart, of the home, and good food and good cooking remain an integral part of our life.

  5. FWIW, I haven't worn a watch in about 4 years.

    I don't think I could go without eating for 4 years.

    I haven't worn a watch for somewhere around forty years. I used to carry one in my pocket, but gave that up too. I don't really use a timer when I'm cooking. Sometimes I start the one built into the stove just to remember when I started something. People seem obsessed with time these days. Some issues of the New Yorker are filled with ads meant to entice people into buying watches costing thousands of dollars. Though that obsession may have more to do with ego than time. Think of the number of good meals that could be had for the price of some watches. :blink:

  6. I can, however, highly recommend this Chili Recipe from Huevos del Toro. I made it last night and it is now my new favorite. I tampered with it a bit and had to use unsweetened cocoa instead of Mexican chocolate but it sure is good.

    Thanks for that link Fifi. I just happen to have all that stuff on hand, except for the cocoa or Mexican chocolate. How important are they?

  7. Nick... Did you use the brussel sprouts as a lure for the deer you are eating?  :wink: There seemed to be a karmic connection there. :biggrin:

    No, the brussels sprouts were not a lure. That's illegal. Years ago I got busted by the Maine game wardens for "enticing deer." Had something to do with apples being found under a pine tree. :biggrin:

    But no, Susie raised the Brussels Sprouts and now has enough dogs to keep the deer away. The deer meat came in the form of a "care" package from the feller that built my house a few years back. It was a fine package. Some liver, some heart, some steak, and some "hamburger". Mighty fine eating.

  8. All the stones I have now are oil stones... a regular Norton double sided (course one side and fine on the other) that's gotten pretty sway backed on the fine side after 30+ years of use, an India stone that was my grandfather's, and a black Arkansas I got about thirty years ago. Years ago I used Nye oil, which at the time was whale oil and could be found at any decent hardware store. Then the whaling ban kicked in (for which I'm mostly grateful), Nye oil disappeared, and I started using mineral oil. A couple of years ago I was in a gunshop and spotted some old tins of sperm (whale) oil on a shelf in the back room. Brownell's "natural, refined, sperm oil" in half pint cans. I bought four cans for $25 each. Whatever you think of killing whales these days, sperm or whale oil is the best oil that can be found for sharpening knives (IMHO.) It's main use is in lubricating fine machinery, such as clocks and, apparently, Nye oil can still be found for that at Bartlett & Co. Whether it's whale oil or not, I don't know. At the price they're asking, I doubt it.

  9. Some people have fought against Wal Mart and won.  Whole communties have gone up in arms and driven the bastards out.  For instance, in Maine the Penobscot Bay Area Citizens group fought off a proposal for the building of a Super Wal Mart (I can't even imagine what this would be like) overlooking their bay on Hwy 1.  According to their website, "The company would have covered more than 21 acres of Rockland's remaining coastal forests with a 186,000 square foot monolith surrounded by 914 parking spaces."

    Amazing.

    Yeah, a "super" Walmart didn't make it in Rockland, but a Home Depot has. It's up high to the west of Rt.1 and will probably become a navigational aid to summer mariners on Penobscot bay. :angry:

  10. It was possible into the early 1980s in Toronto to go to Kensington Market, point to the  live chicken, duck or turkey of your choice and wait as it was turned into the makings of dinner. Then the animal rights people got into it. Why, can you tell me, is it more humane to slaughter animals outside city limits?

    Fresco, we live in a society that has lost its way.

  11. Many other local businesses would be created if people were allowed to hang a shingle in front of their house.

    you may think different if your neighbor decides to open a live poultry store.

    I guess none of us would want that right next door, but it would be nice if live poultry stores made a comeback. Back in the early 1900's my father's folks lived in Boston and my Danish grandmother would go to get a chicken, pick out the one she wanted, and it would be killed, feathered, and gutted. Nothing like a good fresh chicken to take home.

  12. And while I am thinking about this, there is the other thread going about Corporate America and this meal pretty much qualifies as the opposite of a Corporate meal :

    This doesn't have much to do with gumbo, but about all I've been eating for the last week is deer meat, brussels sprouts that the deer didn't get, and other goodies locally grown and stored. Food lovers unite and stop eating from the corporate trough!

    One of these days I've got to learn how to make gumbo - northern style. :biggrin:

  13. You can't go wrong with Joy of Cooking or Fannie Farmer.

    I agree. Maybe it's just the way I grew up (I'm 62), but my mother used Joy and my grandmother in her early days attended the Boston Cooking School (Fannie Farmer.)

  14. It's truly amazing the range of stuff covered in Joy of Cooking. Whenever there's a question not easily answered elsewhere, Joy usually has the solution. It may be, paradoxically, the best loved and most underrated cook book around.

    Amen. I couldn't do without Joy. Between that and the Pro Chef almost any answer can be found.

    Edited to say, that is, in every day cooking. Zuni Cafe is wonderful for branching out. For Thanksgiving I decided on a leg of lamb and Judy's recipe for that and lamb stock were great. I followed her directions for "corkscrew" boning and it worked perfectly.

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