LBNoble

I really like Deborah Madison's cold tomato soup w/ avocado & lime, in her cookbook."The Savory Way", very refreshing, check it out at your local library...

Same here, I have spring fever, only slightly dampened by our snowstorm. I hope you don't mind if I link to an earlier topic, easter

We moved into a new house in August, the kitchen was newly remodeled for resale, ceramic tile floors, granite (Kashmir Gold) countertops-it's miles better than any kitchen I've had before, so I'm still loving it! That said, the ceramic tile has a very irregular surface, w/ 'pits', to make it more natural looking, I guess, & I don't like to clean it. Eventually, I'd like to tear it out & put in oak floors-my kitchen extends into a family room end w/ a fireplace & I'd like to have a continuous surface (although it kills me to think about the POs putting these floors in for me to rip them out). I love the granite, although I would have liked green or blue, it's so cool looking, like cinnamon, pepper, & fish scales all encased in my counters-I love keeping them uncluttered & wiping them down. All gushing aside, though, I've lived in Army housing, with original 1950s linoleum floors twice (one of these was student housing, turned over yearly) & the floors were great, much better than the vinyl in one remodel. Also, laminate countertops hold up extremely well, judging from the kitchens I had. I think surfaces are a personal preference, to be considered after functionality...go with what makes you happy...

You guys have inspired me-especially that seafood gumbo, Fifi...I'm making gumbo tonight, based on a recipe for classic seafood gumbo in Emeril's Potluck, checked out from the library. While I don't like to watch him on TV, I do think Emeril is quite a chef & I like his stuff. My only departures are yellow bell pepper instead of green & since I don't have cayenne & couldn't get it at the store this morning, I subbed a pinch of red pepper flakes & a pinch of ancho chile powder-this recipe calls for shrimp, fish (yes, I know this is controversial-I got catfish over snapper) & oysters (not a fan, so I got crabmeat, boy, is this stuff pricey, even backfin, but I love crab). I cooked the roux (3/4 cup canola & 1 cup flour) for 25 minutes, uninterrupted, stirring continously, & the operative word is 'peanut butter'-yes that's what it looked like, light peanut butter, but peanut butter all the same. I made shrimp stock from the shells (no heads, unfortunately) & my cat was going crazy...I'm a half hour into simmering the gumbo base & it smells so good, I'd eat it without the seafood (well, not really)-I can't wait-got rice going in the rice cooker & we'll have poundcake & clementines for dessert-yum!

I've always made my cheese dip w/ velveeta & pace picante (thicker than Ro-tel), but use Ro-tel exclusively in my chili, not authentic, yes, it has beans, & odds & ends of whatever salsas are in the frig....

thin mints, but Keebler's grasshoppers are almost as good, frozen, of course....

10 years ago, I cooked alot, using inspiration from cookbooks (I'm a cookbook junkie, they outweigh my other books), mostly for my coworkers & predominantly baked goods (they traveled best)-now, I'm cooking for my family & my kids are so picky, they want PLAIN everything-chicken, rice, veg-& nothing touching! So I generally cook 2 level meals-plain for the kids & something that can be spiced up/ added to for me & my guy. I still love cookbooks, I still love to hear what other folks are cooking,thanks to a fascination with knives, I've improved my collection & my skills, I bless the day I found egullet, cooking is a lifelong adventure...ephemeral, but primal...

blackeyed peas & collards, but no pork-the kids & I were out of town until Friday evening, & my husband couldn't find a pork butt-so we had chili (w/ beef), rice, & cornbread, along with the greens & peas, & I tipped the leftover peas into the chili, so I can eat it all week & hope for luck...

Swiss Bakery in Burke-a bit far out for urbanites, but worth it, for the zopf & pretzel rolls, & swiss army rye bread-I don't love cake as much as I do bread, but I've been assured that the cake I got from them was wonderful, I just wish I lived closer...

My favorites are Sriracha, Marie Sharp's, Bufalo chipotle & jalapeno, Cholula, & my current favorite-Aji Amazona, a Colombian sauce. I also like the Chile Man's hot sauces, but my favorites are his ginger & jerk marinades. I love Pickapepper, too, but I wouldn't call it a hot sauce.

We had a large family Thanksgiving, from different areas (mainly the south) & the pies (made by my BIL, Mike) were pumpkin, apple, & pecan (which disappeared first). We also had 2 pound cakes, a cheesecake, a chocolate pudding pie, spiced pecans, & oatmeal-raisin cookies (there were also clementines & apples for the healthy ones among us)-I didn't even have to THINK about making a dessert this year...

Your collards sound like they will be wonderful (they should be, right?). I, on the other hand will be serving tonight (thanks to an egullet moment) Glory canned collards, w/ my 2 pork butts that are smoking as we speak (we are testing the new smoker, since we'll be doing turkey tomorrow)-I have rigged up a Rube Goldberg-umbrella thing over my smoker (in BIG letters on the instructions-do not put in the rain!)-also doing pickled shrimp, coleslaw, cornbread, & anything else anyone wants to look for in the frig (pickled shrimp & cornbread from Camille Glenn's Heritage of Southern Cooking, that's also where I get my poundcake recipe, this year, my MIL is bringing 2 of her own-I'm bowing out). I'm expecting 20+ people at my house tomorrow, I'm still calm, since I've parceled out all the side dishes I don't want to do-mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole...(I'm still thinking about trying a pretzel roll recipe from the Rockenwagner cookbook tonight, since I don't have the time to hit the Swiss Bakery in Burke)...

Ok, someone is going to say that I am in the wrong (someone who is or has been a grocery checker), but Tuesday, I hit my store at 8:45 for asstd. stuff (this store has express lane only, 15 items or less, from 8-9). I tried to keep my item count low, but had 8 limes in a bag-cashier asks, 'how many?' 8 limes, I reply, she then procedes to ring each lime up separately, instead of hitting 8 quantity & tells me , 'Next time, try to keep it under 15 items'-WTF? not to mention the fact that she had 2 inch long fingernails, that looked very unhygienic...I tried not to let it bother me, but why would someone be so petty?

great pics(I wish I was eating that catfish right now)!-my theory is if you drive from LV to NY w/ someone, you will either never want to see them again or you'll get married... hope you had a good trip...

I'm both excited & terrified about this year's Thanksgiving dinner, we've just moved back into this area, most of my husband's siblings live here now, & he's the oldest & we have the largest dining room, so we get to host-that's ok, we've done that for the last few years (except when we lived in Kansas & noone could make it out over Thanksgiving). We are expecting about 20 adults & 4 kids. My challenge is that one of our guests (my BILs mother, who is a very sweet lady) is allergic to pepper in all forms-black, white, bell, chile, paprika, you name it-I first thought, 'how can I do this?' I'm just accustomed to grinding that peppermill over everything, but now... We will do either a turkey & a breast or 2 turkey breasts in the smoker & a ham, starters - a relish tray-olives, carrots, celery, cheese tray (everyone LOVES the Cabot smoky bacon, now if we can save room for dinner...), salami,maybe a crab dip, spinach-stuffed mushrooms, ham biscuits, smoked salmon, thinking about soup, but don't know if there will be room. Sides I will deal out to the sibs, because I (hate to say this) am indifferent-mashed potatoes, stuffing (my MIL will do this, it's important to her), green bean casserole, & the lovely canned cranberry sauce. I will fix yeast rolls, corn muffins, sauteed cabbage/mushrooms/bacon/sauerkraut, cranberry sauce w/ maple syrup & ginger & I'm debating 2 additions-cauliflower gratin (I know there are a few Atkins folks this year) & some sort of salad/dressing w/ either wild or black sticky rice & sausage & veg-onions, celery, apples, maybe? My BIL will bring pumpkin pie (I'm not fond of it), I'll do a cheesecake, some cookies, & fruit & hopefully, everyone will want to go out for a long walk in the park after dinner...

Sweetfreak, You'll be 'feeding' on your success long after the postrace meal-congratulations & way to go!-you've inspired me to get out & move my rump, maybe next year...anyway, enjoy your finishing bliss...

I ate at Ray's last Friday for my anniversary & it was sublime-it was drizzly, we took the metro, hoofed it up the hill, & didn't think we'd make it in time for our reservation-we got there, were greeted warmly & ordered our dinner -flatiron for me (no hanger steak, alas) & ribeye w/ diablo for my DH. Everything was just right-my steak was wonderful (I haven't eaten a steak in about 8 years, so I was primed for this), most people here have complained that it's noisy, but I like the fact that it's lively & noone is going to eavesdrop on your conversation, I'd rather eat in a place where noone is going to notice if you drop your fork, LOUDLY, it appears to be a place where the staff really cared about the diners, all the servers , it seemed, dropped by our table, asking if things were all right-I was very impressed by the service & of course, the food-perfect steak, spinach & potatoes-I went home on the metro, clutching my doggy bag (had it for breakfast the next morning, thanking my lucky stars)...Linda

This is probably a minor thing, but do you need that door to close off the kitchen? If not, I'd take it down, so you don't have to move it everytime you need to get to the pantry-opening it up might help you feel less claustrophobic in the kitchen. In your place, I'd do a coat of paint, but I wouldn't worry about the flooring, unless it's SO cracked that it's difficult to clean. And I agree with everyone that the key is finding a multipurpose workspace/seating area. It's tough, but you may need to pare down your batterie de cuisine & store stuff you don't want to get rid of in other rooms (& have a list somewhere of where you put things).

I love beer & that is one of the most disgusting things I've ever heard of...you're supposed to have your caffeine AFTER your beer, not with it.

After reading this thread, I ran out & checked the store this morning & came home with Glory butterbeans & collards (not mixed, of course). We had the butter beans tonight & I thought they were yummy, even though I'm not a huge fan of butterbeans. But trying to get a 5-yr. old to try even 1 butter bean was a nightmare...(of course, at that age, I'm sure I was equally determined to stand my ground).

The lead story in the food section of today's WA Post is "The Sweet, Sad State of Cider" WA Post Food , they say that Williams Orchard in Rappahanock county is the only remaining orchard in the county that makes & sells its own cider. I went to Stribling Orchard in Markham last weekend to pick apples, they had cider, but I didn't notice if it was pasteurized, it was a fourth grade field trip, I was a little distracted... Let us know what you find locally, I'd love to get some good, fresh cider & let it ferment in my garage all fall-a nice, simple way to ease back into homebrewing...

Ok, I've made a reservation for a week ahead-it's our 10th & I've not cooked my way-too-deserving husband enough steaks during our time together, so I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to hit a place I've been dying to visit & treat my husband to some wonderful steak-I'm a suburb-dweller & I've managed to line up a baby-sitter for the kids (cue sound of heavenly choir)-now if there's clam-chowder when I visit (I'm from Sneads Ferry, NC, home of celestial, green, seaweedy, clam chowder), I will be SO happy...Linda (who's very happy to be living here again, after a year in Kansas) Now for the questions, Michael, how difficult is it to find & maintain a consistent staff?-I worked as a waitress for many years while I was in school, & I realize that a reliable work crew is very important to the operation-both front & back of the house, how do you recruit & keep your staff? What do you use as your primary motivation (steak as bribes?)...

I'd have to agree, I had lunch there about a week ago, it was ok, but not special-I'm still partial to El Puerto, Richmond Hwy., for lunch-their chile rellenos are usually very good. On the positive side, the Swiss Bakery, right next to El Pueblo, is WONDERFUL-pretzel rolls, fruit tarts, Swiss Army bread, zopf...I like this bakery better than one that is closer to me, they have a better selection of breads (which I understand are not as profitable to bakeries (I've been looking at the independent bakery threads), I definitely appreciate them-I think their breads are great, I just wish I lived a little closer to them...Linda

El Puerto-Rt. 1

I still get the ring, no matter how careful I am, but the eggs always taste good anyways, I shop at the Ft. Belvoir commissary, that lodestar of retirees & active duty schlubs, it's alway busy, the produce is fresh, they have a bigger section of oriental vegs since I was here last-lemongrass, baby bokchoi, snow peas...I love it because it's cheaper than the local supermarkets, occasionally I can get nice things-POM wonderful pomegranate juice, cheap frozen pizzas (for the kids), I even got an amazing 5 ft. palm last week for 6.99! It's worth the wait, most times...