Ladybug

Well said. Now I can feel less guilty about serving purchased rotisserie chicken to my family.

I sure hope you do come. I'm greatly looking forward to meeting all you buggers. Thanks, Jaymes!

I like to marinate steak in a mixture of sesame oil, soy sauce, brown sugar, ground ginger, garlic powder, and black pepper. I don't like garlic powder, as a rule, but the first time I grilled a steak successfully, I used this recipe and it turned out so well that I give it cabinet space just for this recipe. I think the soy sauce tenderizes it (just read that in CI) as someone else mentioned. I've used the cheapest steaks at the store for this recipe and it never turns out to be tough. I've also tried it on some nice T-bones. My, my, my! Great steak! Leftovers, if there are any, are great in fried rice.

Put me in for a strong maybe plus Mr. Ladybug and three babybugs. We're only an hour away and although I'm a bit shy, it seems a shame to miss out on something this neat.

I made Michael's Cashew Caramel recipe yesterday and I just wanted to post that it was delicious! I didn't have any trouble making it at all. It seemed like just the sort of thing to put on top of a cheesecake, but we ate it straight. I had plans of doing something with it, but the kids and my husband ate so much of it that there wasn't any point in doing anything with the scrapings left over.

Suvir, Perhaps the recipe I have been using is not authentic. It is a Martha Stewart recipe. It reminds me of the wonderful chicken coconut curry I had at the Indian restaurant I mentioned, but now I am not entirely sure Martha Stewart knows much about Indian cooking! At any rate, whether it is authentic or not, I enjoy it. It includes onion, garlic, ginger, coconut milk, cilantro, green chilies, shrimp and salt and black pepper to taste, served over basmati rice. Perhaps you could tell me whether this dish is indeed Indian. I am considered a good cook by people I cook for, but I don't know many "foodies." Most people I know eat a lot of Hamburger Helper. This makes me look brilliant! On these boards, I realize that what I know about food wouldn't fill a gnat's ear! If you have a recipe for a coconut curry, I would be thrilled to try it. Thanks, Ladybug

My first experience with Indian food was probably about 10 years ago in Lakenheath, England. My friends and I were going to a church ladies conference in England and we were all going out to eat on a limited budget - and everyone thought going to an Indian restaurant would be "neat." I must say I was excited to be eating something different, but the only memorable thing about the meal was that the chicken was neon red. I think the restaurant there was the Indian equivalent of Chinese restaurants in the States. I don't remember the flavor of that chicken in great detail, but I remember thinking it had a hint of some unusual spices and that it was dry. I wouldn't say that I hated it, but I was "under-whelmed." I wouldn't say it changed my eating habits at all, but when I had a chance later to go to another Indian restaurant in New Jersey, I was so eager to try it! THAT meal was wonderful! I can't remember the name of what I ordered, but it was some sort of chicken curry with coconut milk. It was absolutely breathtakingly wonderful. The bread, naan, was spectacular as well - I remember it being warm, toasted and onion-y. I've made curries at home since. but am still very much the novice with Indian cooking. My favorite Indian dish to make at home is a shrimp coconut curry. I am still very much the novice with Indian cooking, but I would love to learn more!

Thank you, Michael! I do have Silpats, so I'll definitely use those.

Michael, I'd love to try this recipe - but what temperature does one cook to for a "medium-dark caramel?" I'm not very experienced with that. I have made caramel before and I've made innumerable batches of Rose Levy Beranbaum's Mahogany Buttercrunch Toffee, so I'm not completely and utterly inexperienced. Basically, I'm just a home cook with illusions of grandeur.

Just read this in my paper today about butter-flavored oil - like the stuff Jaymes remembered, I think! Health-based buttery taste Well, I don't know about "health-based," but anyway it's not hydrogenated! edited for spelling

I haven't seen this in this thread - I add 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract per gallon of iced tea. For the actual tea, I steep about 4/5 teabags or about 1/3 to half a cup (I eyeball it) of loose tea leaves in boiling water (in a French press) for 5 minutes (sometimes longer - I don't always time this), and drain/press. I add 1 and 1/2 cups of sugar to the hot tea, stir until dissolved and then add enough water to make a gallon (plus the vanilla.) Using simple syrup doesn't seem to to improve the end product and it's an extra step to make that. So I don't do it.

Red Flame Grapes Thompson Green Grapes Pineapple Honeydew Canteloupe Strawberries Fuji Apples Navel Oranges Lemons Limes Dried Zante currants Raisins Prunes Dried dates Dried cherries

Sladeums, et al . . . No report yet from the mother-in-law about the CI meatloaf because we haven't given it to her yet - but I made it and cut a wedge off one end and my husband and I tried it. He's decided he DOES like meatloaf and wanted to know why I never make that for HIM. Thanks, everyone! I do have a question, though. The ground chuck that I bought for this recipe said it contained "natural flavorings." (It was in the smallest of prints, of course!) I didn't notice it until I was already home. Why would beef need "natural flavorings"? I'm mystified and appalled. It seems like a sin against nature. I didn't notice anything unusual about the flavor, but then again, I don't buy ground chuck all that often.

Thank you, sladeums!

Dave the Cook, do you think you could PM that recipe to me? I'm all about bacon!

My mother-in-law is a miserable cook and has probably never cooked meatloaf in her life. The only thing I've ever known her to cook (probably less than 10 times in 12 and 1/2 years) is something she calls a "hot dish." Nasty! It varies with whatever she has in the cupboard - but it's usually ground beef, Minute rice or macaroni, canned corn, and some sort of tomato product. It ends up being quite soupy with large orange globs of grease floating on the top . . . and inedible. She lives on Hungry Man XXL microwave meals. I guess her standards aren't too high, so any meatloaf I make, as long as it's mushroom-less, will please her. She is a very nice lady, maybe the nicest I've ever met - I guess we can't all like to cook.

My husband opened his big ol' mouth and told his mother he was cooking a Mother's Day dinner for her. This basically means that I am cooking a Mother's Day dinner for her. We have to bring it to her house, as she doesn't go out anymore, so it needs to be transportable and reheatable. She requested meatloaf and macaroni and cheese. She hates mushrooms, but likes mostly anything else. I've only made meatloaf once in my life, as a newlywed. I made the recipe from the back of a Quaker Oatmeal box. It turned out that my husband "doesn't like meatloaf," so I never made meatloaf again. Suggestions, anyone?

I made the Cook's Illustrated non-yeasted cinnamon rolls today and I must say that they're the best cinnamon rolls I've ever made. The absolute best part about them is that they aren't too sweet. Every other recipe I've tried is just so rich that it's impossible to eat more than a few bites. The icing was great - cream cheese, buttermilk and powdered sugar! Wow! I made two small changes - I used nutmeg instead of cloves in the filling and I added vanilla to the icing.

Thanks, nightscotsman. BTW, I love reading about your desserts!

nightscotsman - I've been meaning to try that recipe and the only reason I've hesitated is that blurb in the article about needing to eat them right away. How do they hold up? Must they be eaten immediately? Would they be all right reheated the next day?

Tongs. Use 'em all the time. It sure beats flipping pieces of meat with a spatula.

My mom invented a recipe for a healthy snack similar to a Rice Krispies treat. Instead of Rice Krispies, she uses Fiber One or All-Bran cereal, usually with a bit of Grape-Nuts mixed in. She also adds diced dried fruit, wheat germ, flax seed and/or oat bran, sometimes toasted nuts and also natural peanut, almond or cashew butter. She mourns that she can't find anything to replace the marshmallow to make it completely healthy. She calls this creation "Fiber Balls" or "Chewy Kablooies" or even "Colon Bombs." They're actually very tasty and have tons of fiber.

Lemons, limes, toe-may-toes, toe-mah-toes . . . I've lived in Turkey and they had plenty of lemons there. Actually, limes were quite scarce, as were grapefruit, but there were lemons and oranges by the cartload.

Is maple syrup more expensive in the UK, then? It's not cheap here (compared to maple-flavored dreck), but it's not out of reach. I pay $2.99 for about 12 ounces. I could pay 99 cents for twice as much of the maple-flavored mess.

Ahhh, Miss J. I see! Duh! That didn't occur to me. I've never had a bottle longer than a month, let alone six! Wow! Now I'll have to ask my Mom how long a bottle lasts her. I suspect I go through it quite a bit more quickly. I have three children who love buttermilk pancakes with maple syrup.