NeroW

I ride a Huffy to work. The FOH laughs at me

That's a rather bold generalization.

I wish, but I'm in Kalamazoo. tommy will never really exist for me.

A Julia Child homage dinner: Brie Whole chicken baked in the Le Creuset atop many carrots and onions and handfuls of fresh tarragon. Made a thick carrot-tarragon sauce after the chicken was finished baking. Grilled pork loin marinated in Marsala, garlic, cinnamon, cumin, sage, EVOO. Whole rabbit braised in the other Le Creuset in mirepoix, aromatics, white wine, cream, stock, thyme, mustard, etc. Made sauce from strained braising liquid. Stuffed tomatoes provencal. Duck-fat roasted potatoes with duck cracklings. Salad of Romaine and mixed farmer's market greens--carrot thinnings, lamb's quarters, Swiss chard, etc., dressed with white balsamic and EVOO. Baguette toasts. Mixture of fresh and roasted peaches with vanilla ice cream. Wine, wine, wine. For 6.

Julia Child was the first person who inspired me to cook, which changed my life. She was also my first culinary instructor.

What is a sabre? Also, I have opened a bottle with an electric drill.

So I have this crookneck squash plant that someone gave me. The squashes look like those squashes I buy every October at Gene the Pumpkin Man's field to make a decorative display on my table. Does crookneck squash taste good? How is it prepared? A gratin? Is it good enough to eat rather unadorned, like acorn or butternut squash? Also--I plucked one a few weeks ago and have been admiring it on my table ever since. Still edible?

Susan, I used to love going to Pensacola, but I haven't been in years. I seem to remember that wacky Irish pub with the dollar bills all over the walls--was it MacGuire's?--had some superior nachos. And as long as we're in the area--there is a drugstore in Foley, AL, with an old fashioned soda fountain and a soda jerk. They have the absolute best chocolate shakes I have ever had in my entire life, and that's a tall order, because I make a point of having chocolate shakes rather often. Does anyone know the name of that drugstore?

Can we ask questions about an indoor garden too? I grow some houseplants, mainly theraputic "cook" plants, like as much aloe as I can possibly cram into my apartment. I also grow what I thought was a tea tree. This plant belongs to my old roommate from Chicago. She used it to make teas, shampoos, and salves. Things of that nature. Problem is, I'm not really sure what this plant is. It's a spindly plant, with long (2-3 feet) flexible branches covered in a light fuzz. The leaves are pale green, fan-shaped, velvety, and they have a wonderful fresh smell, like tea-tree oil. If I had a camera, I would post a picture. Or I should say: they had a wonderful fresh smell. Ever since I moved it from Chicago, it's dying. OK, it's practically dead. It's in the same spot as it was before (in front of an open window), with the same amount of light. It is watered and fed in a similar manner. I looked on the Internet to see if it really was a tea tree. What I read was that tea trees are extremely hard to care for, come from the bonsai family, and are an outdoor plant. What shall I do with it? I repotted it and I have fed it special food. Shall I cut it down to the very base of the branches and see what happens? I'd like to use it for tea again. It is very sad when plants die.

My friend has big huge green worms on and in her tomatoes. They have a "hook" at one end and they are as wide as a thumb. She is afraid that these are the source of the ENORMOUS moth that sent her screaming inside from her porch a few nights ago. The moth was so big, she said she thought about calling 911 to come and take care of it. The worms are so big, her dog won't go anywhere near the garden anymore. Does anyone here know what those worms are? Do they become moths as big as bats? And is there a way to save the tomatoes without poison?

I am being serious when I say that I think Ranch dressing tastes like vomit. I took this quiz. I was blue cheese, a mixer, a Libra (which by the way is most likely to be a mixer, and most likely to feel guilty about food choice). I don't really eat many salads. I should eat more of them.

Next time that happens, try a little acid--citrus juice, or vinegar. Maybe it just needs the "brightness."

On my night off Monday I made roast chicken (lemon inside, butter outside, you know the drill), mushroom risotto, and green beans. I thought it would be too hot in my kitchen to cook/have the oven on, but what do you know . . . it wasn't.

I can never, ever open a case of beer correctly. I know you guys aren't going to believe that, but it's true.

Today, at my externship, I got my first real cook's burn. Not my first burn-from-cooking, nor even my first scar. But--I suppose you could say--my first arm burn. It is red, raised, and in the exact shape of the oven door's corner. The 500-degree oven door's corner. When did you get your first capital-B Burn? PS The sous chef told me to put egg whites on it. Was he putting one over on me? The old "tell the extern to go get me a bucket of steam" trick?

He's mine, you can't have him! "We're all connected like an erector set, one equals one, together like a croquette."

I love looking in people's carts. Of course, I also look in their windows when it's dark outside and they have their lamps on. Wasn't there a Talking Heads song where David Byrne sang about changing into the person whose groceries you were looking at? How if you took their groceries home, you would become them? Once, when I was selling used cars, my boyfriend and I made a late-night stop at the grocery store. We bought: 2 bottles sparkling wine, condoms, and, um, a heated personal lubricant. Only a few lanes were open, and my boyfriend managed to pick the one with a female cashier that I'd sold a car to the week before. She laughed embarassingly loudly, and then asked me why her power windows weren't working. I did the only thing I could think of, which was to brandish the lubricant at her, and say: "Why don't you try lubing them up with this stuff? It's great!" She didn't really think it was that funny and my boyfriend ran out of the store.

I love the food scene from the movie Tom Jones.

That is one of my all-time favorites. Then he says: the world is the spice, you bring the sauce. And you can kiss my ass, you funky boss. If the Beastie Boys did a Q&A on eG, I would freak out.

helenas, when I glanced at your photo without reading your post, I thought that was a pizza made of eggs.

That's a good one!

Jinmyo, you don't know who the Beastie Boys are? Have you been sequestered somewhere for years? I can't explain them sufficiently on a food board. They're a lot of fun. But-- I just ran some errands on the subway and I was listening to the new CD. Still didn't hear the Sara Moulton shout-out, but I will venture to say that this Beastie Boys album has more food and cooking references on it than any of their previous work. I'm going to make an unscientific guess and say 3 or 4 a song! My favorite so far: "I'm a mad chef when I slice and dice, Please pass me the Riunite on ice." That's Adrock.

You don't like hot dogs? What's not to like?

He-maaaas! He-maaaaas! Go, you won't regret it. Now I am even more depressed to be leaving Chicago Monday. No Hema's

I have the CD. I can't think of the Moulton reference right off the top of my head, but MCA also raps about Chefs and food several times. The BBoys rap about food quite a lot! Sitting on the couch with Adrock, watching the Food Network . . .