Sam Iam

Danielle, sorry, but I mentioned your posting of Rhodes' Garden Fresh on eGullet while I was shopping there for squash today, and the lady cashier was excited! She wrote "eGullet.com" down carefully, and asked me twice if she spelled it right. The owner will probably greet you with a cornucopia the next time you walk in the door. Enjoy!

BTW, what do you pay for Hangar One in your state? I'm in Michigan, and ordered a bottle. $$$$39.95! Edited to apologize for hijacking the thread. Back to Smirnoff talk. I find Smirnoff an excellent value at $9.95. I've started using it as my standard.

Richard, yes, I have the splash guard and use it. I have one of the older 275 watt mixers that I'll sell when the new one arrives. I guess the gray one is now backordered. The meat grinder is also nice to have, and is available on eBay. I have an extra one that I'll be listing soon.

I ordered the gray pro 5 quart reconditioned model for $159.99, free shipping, plus a $25 discount! this is the 350 watt motor with steel gears. The other colors available are $90 more. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detai...garden&n=507846

"I like luncheon "meat" from China and there is only one good brand (I usually can't tell because there are so many fake ones out there.....)" YUKI, I'd love to try it, if you would post the name whenever you locate it.

Today, Sara Moulton on FoodTV was talking about how she brakes for garage sales. She buys various molds. She made Lemon Madelines with lemon vodka syrup, and Burnt Orange Panna Cotta in garage sale molds. Sadly, no watermellon Jello.

Don't forget the excellent selection of used and overstock listings on Amazon. A large number of the cookbooks also have a link for "new & used" at prices that are sometimes $1 to $5. Amazon prefigures media mail rates for shipping. You can buy these from SF, NY, or Mud Hen town.

I WANT ONE! I WANT ONE! And, a VegaMatic!!

We had a 89th birthday party yesterday for my MIL. About 40 people. The item most complimented was my small Wedgewood Napoleon's Ivy china creamer by the caterer's coffee urn. About $1, I recall.

Around Toledo, the nicer estate sales are handled by a few small liquidators. Most of them have realistic pricing, will take checks and credit cards, and are fairly well organized. However, sometimes that isn't true. Also, estate sales put on by greedy surviving relatives are usually highly overpriced, and three days later the house is still full of grandma's useless junk and years of cheap Christmas decorations. At large sales, the local used furniture dealers, eBay dealers, and rabid collectors line up long before the opening hour. You sign a signup sheet, and then can go sit in your car and drink coffee and BS with other collectors. You go back to the door and line up 20 minutes before opening, and someone calls out the sign-up numbers. Several people are let in at opening time, and then 2 to 4 people are let in when 2 to 4 people leave. The true prizes are sold early. It can be a long wait if you aren't there at 6, 7, or 5 AM. I've done this a few times, and it's a different world. At a sale with some true collectables, dealers will spend the night in their campers in order to be first in line. I saw one fist fight, and the police called twice. Don't break in line.

Over the years, I've found many, many items: A White Mountain electric ice cream freezer, $15 A Bron Mandoline for $0.50. The blades were in backward (how'd they do that?) and it was a little rusted. I turned the blades around and polished it up, and sold it on eBay for $60, and then bought a brand new one for $99 on eBay with both safety slicing guards. I saw a man in line to check out with a beautiful $90 German chef's knife. I asked him what the price was, he said $8. I offered him an extra $12, he took it! A Calphalon stock pot, new in box, apprx. 16 quarts, $6 with lid. Chemex coffee pot, $1 (with 200 filters) Kitchenaid mixer $75. Almost all accessories at various other sales for pennies on the dollar. Beautiful set of china for 8 - $6! Le Crueset sauce pan and lid, under $8 Vintage Kitchenaid mixer with glass bowl, metal meat grinder, beaters, citrus juicer parts. Sold the bowl on Ebay for $31, beaters for $10. The grinder should bring ~ $25 to 35, but I may keep it and sell my newer plastic grinder. Oh, I paid $3 for the whole box. And, almost a room full of everything from things like two other ice cream makers, Chinese hot pot, North Africian couscous maker, two electric woks (One stainless in the box, the other non-stick), 20 of the Time Life series for $10, another 100 or so cookbooks over the years. A few pieces of Portmeirion Botanic Garden, one piece of Emile Henry. Perhaps 5 Cuisinart food processors. I part them out on eBay. I'll add more later, but my favorite buy was the dual oven, current model Maytag that was a perfect replacement for the 36 year old GE that was mostly non working. I paid $50 for it, and $37 for a new replacement oven handle that was dented when it was removed. It's time for a garage sale.

Just make sure that you use a valid Escrow company. Some of the camera frauds specify the use of fraud escrow sites. I emailed him to confirm free shipping. It's possible that he hit the wrong entry while listing. All said, there are some real bargains available. We ended up with a Dacor 36" smooth electronic cooktop for $400. Picked it up on our way back from Ashville (The seller was a ten minute detour off of I-75!) This usually sells new for $1,400 or so, and over $1,000 on Ebay.

We had an open house last night. Someone brought a dozen Jello/vodka shots, with the clementine skins as the containers for the Jello shots. It was really attractive. It was pretty crazy with 58 people plus a bartender and a 12-string acoustic guitarist stuffed in our home, and I didn't get a picture of it or anything else!

Duck fat Shallots Coffee beans Cognac

The number 1 seller on Amazon today is the Circulon Classic 12" covered deep skillet with cover for $12.99. Worth the plunge if they ship to Canada. Plus, a $30 rebate if you buy $100 worth. Start your own Ebay company or be ready with a cheap gift for the next eight weddings that you have to attend! Their prices on Cuisinart stainless skillets and saute pans WITH lids are also dirt cheap.

Starbucks ice cream --my wife's favorite!

Allright, time to get serious again. Mice (and rats) are rodents. Cute, yes. Full of disease, definitely! Google "house mice", and you won't think twice about the fastest way of getting rid of them. They are constantly pissing and shitting all over your kitchen, and in any food they can find. Do whatever it takes to remove them as quickly as possible, short of a flame thrower. I worked for a national exterminator about 30 years ago, and usually ended up with the mice detail. Don't wanna talk about some of the really bad infestations. BTW, most exterminators prefer poison, because they don't have to make another service call to reset the traps every few days. If you think you have one or two mice, set five traps. Move them after a couple of days if they haven't caught anything. Put the trap side against wall, if possible. Use different baits. Use poison, but only if there are no pets. Mice are so prolific, there is probably a nest, so keep the traps out afer you catch a few. Put them back out every week or two for a few days. Sam

Our favorite is from Julia Child: Boil about 4 minutes, drain, chop roughly, simmer covered on low heat with a LOT of heavy cream and butter. Season. But I love them every which way.

The Blue Nile on Washington St. is one of our favorites. Ethiopian all-you-can-eat, including beef, lamb, and chicken. A bottle of honey beer, around $20. Worth the splurge!

My favorite... dig a confit of duck leg out of a pot of duck fat in the fridge, wipe off the fat, zap it a minute or two, blot the fat again, shred the meat on romaine, drizzle a little vinegarette on. Perhaps 5 to 6 minutes tops.

Thanks for your recommendations, joler. My wife and I will be staying at the Biltmore Inn and Red Rocker Inn for five days around the weekend of 10/11. I'll enjoy trying some of your stops. Sam

Carpe Bacon!

I realized that I never posted the Tasting Menu from Memorial Day weekend at Tapawingo. This was served May 25, 2003. I had called apprx. three months earlier for a table of six. I mentioned that the group was a "gourmet club" and were looking for a fun evening! I also stressed that one woman had a severe (life threatning level) allergy to crab and lobster. The dinner is offered either with wine pairing or without wines. Service was absolutely perfect! I'm pretty sure that we had our own busboy in charge of silver, plate removal, and water. Maybe two. Ron Edwards, the Sommelier, introduced himself as soon as we were seated and presented the Tasting Menu. He is very personable and knowledgable. One small glitch... Peekytoe Crab was listed on the menu TWICE! The first time was a typo. The Amuse did not contain crab, but the soup did. I believe that there was a breakdown in communication between the office and the kitchen. Anyhow, here's the menu: Amuse: Tomato & Basil "Salad" with Ployez-Jacquemart Brut N.vV., Champagne Asparagus Soup, Neither Hot nor Cold, Peekytoe Crab & Saffron-Lemon Citrus with 1999 Wyncroft Avonlea Vineyard Riesling, Lake Michigan Shore Braised Veal Cheek, Russet Potatoes, Morels, Sweet Onio Vinaigrette, Pheasant Egg, Snap Pea Salad with 1999 Domaine la Garrique Vacqueyras, Southern Rhone Roasted Tasmanian Sea Trout, Smoked Bacon, Fois Gras, Ramp Broth, Sunchoke, Morels, Smoked Ham Hock & Sage with 1997 Qupe Roussanne Alban Vinyard, Edna Valley "Tagliata" of Corn Fed Beef Sirloin, Arugula Jus, Lemon Rind & Parmesan Flan, Morels & Virgin Olive Oil, with 1997 Agricola San Felice Poggio Rosso Chianti Classico Riserva, Tuscany Strawberries n' Cream Tart, Candies Ginger Cookie Crust, Basil Ice Cream & Rhubarb Strawberry Compote, with 1998Peter Lehman "The Barossa", Barossa Valley Australia Hazelnut Torte, Espresso Ice Cream & Espresso Caramel A "suprise" serving of the fantastic golden beet soup (served in a very small expresso cup) was added, along with a sorbet. Pricing was a reasonable $75 for the dinner and $50 for the wine pairing. All in all, well worth a 500 mile round trip from SE Michigan. One couple has a family home on Mission Peninsula, near Traverse City. We stayed there, about 50 minutes from Tapawingo. We're going to try to retun sometime this fall, perhaps also visit the Rowe Inn. Sam

A food vacuum, now that's the ticket! And a kitchen blowtorch. What else do I crave? A small greenhouse, where I can grow my own hydrophonic tomatoes in the winter, along with herbs. (OK it's a large gadget.) I have four ice cream freezers, and I only use the White Mountain electric and Cuisinart with the freezer container. Perhaps if I get busy, sell 2 on Ebay, plus one of my two Brons, plus two of my extra food processers, plus a whole room full of extra shit, I can buy some more stuff I really need.

My "to Do List" has had the notation of ordering duck fat for some time now. One of the suggested sources offers 10 lbs. of duck fat for $ ~ $35. The last time, I ordered 2 lbs. That lasted two years. This should last at least six months. I love confit. BTW, any suggested methods of confiting lamb shank? Sam