SylviaLovegren

LILAC ICE CREAM!!!!!???!!! Can you infuse lilac flowers in alcohol to make lilac extract?

At least you can buy beer in a supermarket. Here in Canada, land of beer, you have to either go to the gov't store or to the privately owned/American owned Beer Store -- I think Anheuser is one of the owners. Beer Store's prices are high (so are the gov't stores)...and all the profits go out of Canada. The Anheuser-owned Beer Store also doesn't sell many local Canadian-made craft beers, of which there are many. How this makes ANY sense, I don't know. There was a push recently to break the B.S.'s monopoly in Ontario by allowing grocery stores to sell beer, but the liberal premier decided it wasn't a very good idea. So, if you want to drink good beer, you go to the brewery or you go to a pub. Still expensive but at least it's good!

We have very good friends who don't cook, either one of them. When we're invited for dinner, it's always take out from a local restaurant. Fortunately, they have good local restaurants!

Wonder why our raccoons eat every food plant we've tried to grow but leave the hosta shoots alone? It would give me great satisfaction to eat something they didn't get!

If I could jump through my computer screen into that batch of cookies, I would. Dang.

Gosh, haven't had Snickerdoodles in a hundred years. I can just smell them, looking at your picture. Yum!

Make some hot coffee. Get a pile of dates. Get a pile of nuts -- salted pistachios are my favorite, but tastes differ, inexplicably. Have a few small slices of feta, goat or similar mild, young-ish cheese. Have a few small slices of fruit. Sip some coffee, eat a date, eat a nut. Have another sip of coffee. Decide whether you're ready for a taste of cheese or fruit. Repeat this routine until everything is gone or you're full, whichever comes sooner. My favorite breakfast. And, yes, dates will keep a very long time if they're covered and not exposed to extremes of humidity.

Yes, but how'd it taste?

How about some pain d'espice biscotti?

Can't hurt to try. Getting published is really tough, selling the published books is even tougher -- but if you feel called to write the book, go for it. The worst that can happen is you have an unpublished book. In the meantime, you'll have clarified your own thinking, put together a bunch of recipes you like, and left a nice memento for your kids. That's the down side.

.That is so hard to believe. Condolences to all his family and friends.

I still have a thing for many Campbell soups. Don't use them in cooking, but like them for lunch every now and then, especially when feeling poorly. Some frozen vegetables -- corn, peas, limas, okra. And a few mixed vegetable medleys on hand. When we lived in the States, we had a lot of TJ prepared foods in the pantry and the freezer but haven't found a replacement so far in Canada.

. I mainly buy mutton or hoggett from the butcher if I'm buying sheep meat.I'm waiting for the outcome of this story. Need pics! You can still buy mutton in the UK? We had it all the time when I was a kid but I don't think most butchers in the US even know what mutton is now. What's hoggett?

I checked the Time/Life series and a couple of other books I have from the mid-20th century on American regional foods and didn't come up with huge amounts of stuff (eta, well on many states, yes, but not Arkansas and Idaho): Arkansas -- Catfish stew, sweet potato casserole with marshmallow topping, sweet potato pie, baked possum (!), poke salad, hush puppies (lots of this is generic Southern food, obviously) Idaho -- Panned or grilled rainbow trout, potato doughnuts, double-baked potatoes with cheese, lamb chops, huckleberry pie -- lots of lamb in Idaho from the Basques who settled there. I'm trying to find my Clementine Paddleford (How America Eats) but she's disappeared somewhere in the stacks -- there is a new edition out "The Great American Cookbook" which you might find locally somewhere. I do have a couple of Nebraska local old-fashioned cookbooks so I could look there if you're still trying for Nebraska.

One other possibility, if your library has the Time-Life Foods of the World series, the American ones have good regional recipes, usually with some background. In fact, I'll go look to see if there's anything on Idaho or Arkansas.

That Cornell Chicken sounds really yummy. Have you had Chicken Riggies? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_riggies We went into a small restaurant in Westmoreland NY. The waitress said the day's special was "riggies" -- when I asked her what that was, she looked at me like I was from outer space. "It's just riggies," she said. So I ordered it and found out. Have had them a couple of times in Utica, as well.

In Ronks, PA, it's just "pot pie" -- never saw the "slippery" part. And I had the same experience as Annabelle years ago: ooooh, I LOVE chicken pot pie. And was surprised to get chicken soup with big noodles.

I've had CFS in many place and ONLY served with white gravy. And pretty much as Annabelle describes -- mashed taters, dinner roll, green beans cooked southern style. Yummy. The regional dishes that have surprised me have been in Pennsylvania -- an odd assortment of Deutch and southern -- scrapple alongside the biscuits and gravy. And northern central Pennsylvania is prone to "salads" made with LOTS of Miracle Whip, the gloppier the better. Went to a wedding once and the reception (in the church basement, natch) was catered by the bride's friends who each brought a different bowl of Miracle Whip with a variety of chunks mixed in. It was interesting.

It's hard! Buy it! My Greek relatives all buy their phyllo, except one aunt who will occasionally make it for a very rustic tiropita (cheese "pie").

Gosh, this is making me nostalgic for food I never had.

We had slaw like that in North Carolina in a couple of BBQ joints, except that instead of celery seed, there were red pepper flakes. Really good with a tray of outside meat and hush puppies!

I'm confused by your statement you don't "pan fry" but you do "saute". What's the difference? Thin pork chops dredged in some seasoned flour, then pan fried (or sauteed) in a combo of olive and butter or bacon fat just until crispy, pan deglazed with either stock and lemon or wine is a favorite quick dinner around here.

An easy way is what my Greek MIL used to do -- steam (or boil, more honestly) cabbage wedges for a few minutes until just tender, then dress with lemon, oil, salt and pepper.

Preserved lemons. Mail a whole bunch to me.