Ladybug

I like Rose Levy Beranbaum's Neoclassic Buttercream. She uses corn syrup instead of boiling water and sugar together and the results are identical to her Classic Buttercream recipe, although the procedure is much simplified.

One of my best friends did the Atkins diet and lost nearly 50 pounds, but her cholesterol went up 50 points. She'd had her cholesterol checked before the diet and it was fine then. Her doctor put her on some sort of cholesterol lowering drug (I forget what kind) and she has sworn off of Atkins. She has managed to keep the weight off, which is a good thing. My husband did the Atkins diet for a couple months and lost about 25 pounds. He hasn't had his cholesterol checked. (But I've been nagging him to do so!) His cholesterol was borderline before. He's gained 6 or 7 pounds back.

I've been googling for a picture of mulberries and finally found a good close up here. There are many variations, of course. The first time I saw a mulberry, I thought it was a blackberry. When I looked more closely, I could see that it wasn't, but there definitely are similarities.

Might it have been mulberries? They look like blackberries and they grow on trees with no thorns. A small tree might look like a bush. They grow here in NC and ripen in the spring. My Dad says they grow in Michigan as well, so I can't think of any reason why they wouldn't grow in Louisville.

McDonald's - I think I ordered Chicken McNuggets, but I wasn't hungry. The most memorable thing that happened there was that while we were standing at the counter waiting to order, I looked down and a shower of rice fell out of my hair! It was really embarrassing! At least it wasn't birdseed . . .

We do have a grill. The only thing that gives me pause is my husband's tendency to cook all meat until it cries "Mercy!" I think I'll have to "supervise," but it'll take some finessing.

Woo hoo! It worked! I should be getting two boneless strip steaks (8 oz. each) for a grand total of $10.93. Is that a deal or what?! They're supposed to be delivered on the 22nd. Now, what is the absolute best way to cook these in a way that will show off their wondrousness?

BBQ chicken wrap with cheddar, lettuce and lots of scallions carrots nightscotsman's buttermilk sorbet (a big success!), but I added a drizzle of caramel I'd love to try it with peaches.

Snowangel, I know what you mean - we had corn last night. Just corn. I bought a bunch from a guy a mile or so down the road who grows his own. It was delicious! It's difficult to eat too much corn.

You're right, nightscotsman - it is a bit soft. I actually put in more ice and shook the bag for 10 continuous minutes because at five minutes, I still had liquid. But it was delicious! I made half a batch and I added about a tablespoon of heavy cream and a couple drops of vanilla. Great experiment! I wonder what would happen if I added more ice and added 5 more minutes . . . hmmm.

Leftover Pork with Tonkatsu sauce made into a stir fry with onions, mushrooms & garlic served on a bed of . . . ramen noodles! Steamed green beans Chocolate peanut butter ice cream Later, we went to the neighborhood farm market stand and bought 24 ears of freshly picked Silver King corn. We ate some raw on the way home and cooked some immediately when we got home. Ahhhh!

This sounds too simple, I know, but what has made a great difference in my cooking/baking is preheating. A few years ago, I didn't understand that heating the pan and/or oil beforehand made a world of difference. Preheating the oven before baking also made a big difference.

Never posted on the dinner thread before - and something tells me I won't be a regular. (It's too embarrassing to post my dinners after reading Jinmyo's or torakris'.) But tonight's meal was great - fried rice made with leftover pork spare ribs, onion, scallions, garlic and sesame oil. Ahhhh . . . pork! Actually, I ran out of oil and the rice seemed to be sticking too much, so I added butter. My husband surprised me by coming home early, so that's all we had. No sides. No desserts. But it was enough.

My mom, who almost never eats sweets, loves Snowballs. She would peel off the coconut layer and eat it slowly, stretching it around and into long strings of sweet stickiness. I don't remember her eating the centers - but I do remember her offering them to me. Once every five years I so, I might buy one just for nostalgia's sake.

Try Elizabeth_11's recipe for chocolate chip cookies. I tried them once and they were quite thick and tasty. Here it is, cut and pasted from the recipe archive: Best Big, Fat, Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies! Submitted by: Elizabeth_11 Keywords: Dessert, American, Easy, Chocolate, Cookie Servings: 15 as a dessert These are my all-time favorite chocolate chip cookies! They're big, fat, and chewy--and finally you can eat just one, they are just that big and satisfying! This recipe is adapted from the Cook's Illustrated version, only with some minor adjustments to my taste. Enjoy! 2 c all-purpose flour 1/2 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp salt 3/4 c unsalted butter, melted 1 c packed brown sugar 1/2 c white sugar 1 T vanilla extract 1 egg 1 egg yolk 2 c semisweet chocolate chips 1. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. 2. Stir together melted butter, brown sugar, sugar and vanilla. Add egg, then the yolk. Stir in dry ingredients, then fold in chocolate chips until incorporated. Refrigerate dough until firm (at least 30 minutes). 3. Drop 1/4 cup sized "puck-shaped" mounds of dough onto baking sheet. Bake in preheated 375 degree oven for approximately10-12 minutes or ONLY until the edges begin to turn golden. (They'll look underdone, but trust me, they're perfect)! Cool and enjoy! Yields about 12-15 BIG cookies!

In the distant days when I actually had a job....watermelon and green apple Jolly Ranchers were the two items I always had in the bottom drawer... Me, too, until I discovered Chupa-Chups. The lollipops? With cows on the label?

Back in the day when I had an office, I kept granola bars in my desk too. Boring, but it doesn't spoil and is somewhat filling.

I think the soy tenderizes it a bit - soy has salt, and therefore, that's really brining the beef. I just read something about this in CI's May & June 2003 issue in an article called, "Investigating Steak Tips." They called soy sauce their "secret tenderizing agent."

This whole thread is making me feel like a Neanderthal. I do the switch. It's true that you eat the way your parents do - and I've never given it a moment's thought until now. I've never been taught how to place your knife and fork when you're done eating versus when you're not, etc. Basically, in my own little world, I've never been embarrassed - but there have been a few times I've been out to eat with the "city mice" (me being the country mouse) and I've often felt like there was a whole set of rules I didn't know and therefore, couldn't observe. I eat neatly and quietly, I'm always careful to be considerate of fellow diners, and I watch them out of the corner of my eye to see if they're doing anything I ought to be doing, but that doesn't seem to be enough in those situations. I'm always sure I'm missing some crucial thing that will brand me as a poor, uneducated redneck. Of course, it doesn't help that I'm quite meek anyway - it's in my nature to always assume I am the one doing things wrongly.

I read somewhere that newspaper ink is soy-based. That makes it healthy, right? Of course, the point of that article was that newspapers make fine additions to a compost pile.

I make a lot of cookies for a home cook - I use them for gift baskets that I do for church functions and I give them away to friends. I usually never make less than 100-200 at time because someone is always willing to gobble up the extras. And I LOVE Silpats. I ALWAYS use them when I make cookies. I've never noticed that they spread more or less on a Silpat and the convenience is remarkable. No greasing and no burning. I've left cookies in too long a few times and they didn't burn. I think the Silpat sort of distributes the heat because I ended up with a crunchier, still edible cookie. Airbakes have always been a disappointment and parchment paper is more trouble - the paper slides around on the cookie sheet and can even slide right off. Plus, the scent of cooked parchment is unappealing.

I'd be interested in hearing about what Ruby Tuesday is really like "behind closed doors." (Sort of like a Joan Lunden special, yes?) I've only been to Ruby Tuesday's a few times and I think I've only had the salad bar with one exception when I had half of some sort of turkey sandwich. But it's my brother's favorite restaurant!

Epicurious is better than the Food Network just because on their site, the recipes have reviews. I love reading those reviews. Also, just from a personal viewpoint, I've had poor luck with recreating FN's recipes - I particularly remember two of Emeril's that bombed - some sort of caramel apple upside down cake and a sausage, cheese and rice "casserole." But of course, eGullet is better!

One nice teensy little ol' three pound burger?

Wow! What a great article! It's refreshing to hear someone think about someone besides themselves. It's sort of like JAZ's take on the Golden Rule.