hjshorter

My mom was a decent cook, but had a bad habit of cutting recipes out of women's magazines during the 70's. Her worst concoction - I can still remember the taste - had the innocuous name "Seafood Casserole". Cubed frozen fish, tiny frozen shrimp and Campbell's Cream of Shrimp soup mixed with a little cooking sherry. It was topped with Kraft Parmesan cheese (the green can) and baked. The thought still makes me gag. Served over Uncle Ben's converted rice, which is responsible for making me think I hated rice until I was an adult and could cook the real thing. Edited to say that she was an army wife on an NCO's budget until I was 7, then worked full-time after dad got out of the service. I'm sure our food budget, and her time were extremely limited. Hence the "time and money saving" experiments.

Not mine! Mine won't touch the stuff in the box.

Nice to see DC's giant egos on full display once again. Nick, do you have any plans to open in the Maryland 'burbs?

I grew up with Miracle Whip. It was what my dad preferred - his family was all from the OK panhandle and I think it's most popular in that part of the country. I don't make homemade mayonnaise very often because I have little kids and can't find pasteurised eggs anywhere. I used to buy Hellmans, but switched to Duke's. It has a surprisingly short ingredient list and no sugar.

I love pan-fried chicken, with a cream gravy made from the drippings. That's how mom made it, but I never seem to fix it myself. Scott gets out the deep fryer about once a month and fries something. I won't let him do it more often because our current house has terrible ventilation. He makes perfect frites, and fried oysters for po'boys.

I use an embarrasing amount of prepared stuff. A partial list of acceptable items: Ian's brand chicken nuggets, and "alphatots" (french fries in alphabet shapes). The kids love these and they have no partially hydrogenated fats. Good for emergency kid dinners with a salad or veggie. Amy's organic canned lentil soup, frozen macaroni and cheese, and a few other products I'm not remembering right now. Whole Kids brand frozen waffles. Trader Joe's frozen curry veggie patties. Great on a whole wheat bun with our favorite mixed pickle, lettuce and tomato for a super-quick lunch. Empire kosher frozen chicken breasts. Frozen brussels sprouts, Trader Joe's frozen green beans, and frozen fruit for smoothies. We've tried many of the Trader Joe's entrees and have been disappointed with most of them. The packaging reads much better than the food tastes.

May I ask why? These have been and I suspect always will be some of my favorite things to cook.

I cook more Asian food now. And I'm cooking for my kids instead of adults only. Actually, not just cooking - I'm teaching two little people how to eat. That's been a huge change. I am more likely to seek out organic ingredients, buy milk w/out BGH or antibiotics, etc.

Has anyone mentioned Chicken Cacciatore? I can try to dig up a recipe. Very easy and my kids love it. Everyone seems to be going Italian - there are plenty of Asian noodle dishes to choose from. One of our favorite weeknight cookbooks is Asian Noodles by Nina Simonds. Not the most authentic, but easy and good recipes. She calls for homemade stock in many recipes, but I cheat with canned more often than not.

I have made many pot roats and my favorite is still my mother's recipe, clipped from Ladies Home Journal or some such magazine back in the 60's. Rub meat with flour, S&P and a little sugar and brown in a TB or so of vegetable oil in a large Dutch oven. Take out meat and add 1 thinly sliced onion to the pot and let soften. Return meat and juices, plus 3 cups of V-8 juice (I use the low salt). Cook for 3 hours or so, until very tender. Remove meat and make gravy: make a paste of 3 TB flour and a little V-8 juice, whisk into juices in pan and add another cup of V-8. Cook until thickened. You can cook carrots and potatoes with the meat for the last 30-60 minutes, depending on how soft you like them, but I prefer this straight up with a giant mound of mashed potatoes. I recently got a 5 or 6 quart Le Crueset dutch oven from my grandma and it's perfect for this.

A dollop of creme fraiche and some shaved bittersweet chocolate on a brownie is nice. As far as the cool whip...I would go with the folks who suggested having it on the side so that people could help themselves. Or not.

Maki: unagi, flying fish roe, or spicy tuna nigiri: either mackeral or yellowtail sashimi: tuna or yellowtail I think I know what I'm having for lunch today.

Both of these are government facilities. ← True, but the NGA in particular doesn't add much to the federal quality of DC.

If nothing else, the Smithsonian and the National Gallery of Art are a major destinations for anyone interested in art and have been for quite some time.

We had our wedding at a local restaurant - ceremony in the garden then a brunch with a jazz combo afterwards. I remember quiche and salad, not much else because after we were served we got up to talk to friends and when we got back our plates had been cleared! Our cake was almond pound cake with raspberry filling and almond buttercream and was DELICIOUS. We had already been on our honeymoon (Scott was starting a new job the Monday after) but that night we stayed at the Morrison-Clark hotel in downtown Washington and had a wonderful dinner at the restaurant there. The following day we had all of our friends over for grilled burgers, hot dogs, and assorted salads, and drank and carried on. Wound up scarfing the top of the wedding cake that had been carefully packed to freeze. It seemed a shame to waste a perfectly delicious cake like that.

Nice! I think I know what's for dinner tonight. My raclette pan is the kind with the little dishes and a grill on top. As for Melting Pot...I went to the Rockville location with some friend's on a "mom's night out" a couple of years ago. It was fun group activity, but the food was mediocre.

No No No! and if they did I would avoid it. ← Why? I love raclette - better than fondue.

Same here. It's sounds like a delightful place. I had planned to be there tonight but alas, something came up.

I grew up using the 1965 edition, and have the one edited by Marion Cunningham and published in the late 80's. It is to me what Joy of Cooking is to a lot of others - my everyday, fallback, tried and true cookbook. It's not adventurous, or "gourmet" but I have never had a recipe fail. The baking recipes are particularly good.

Salad of bitter greens, slices of rare beef, crumbled gorgonzola, red onions and horseradish vinaigrette. Add slivered cornichons for an extra kick.

I am partial to Marchones Italian Deli, in the Wheaton Triangle. Their meatball sub is worth ordering too. 11224 Triangle Lane, Wheaton. 301-949-4150.

True. As in most things Your Milage May Vary. In my case, I couldn't tolerate garlic, onions, broccoli and the like, and had to quit spicy food because of severe indigestion. Of course, once the kids were born I could go back but both kids had bad colicky reactions. As Joe said, if something appears to be bothering LittleStretch then you'll need to take a look at MrsStretch's diet.

I second that! Broccoli was also a problem. And, oh yeah, congratulations! Forgot to say it in my last post. Yes yes yes, stock up on things that can be eaten with one hand. That includes dinners, because junior will reliably want to nurse just as you're sitting down. Lots of snacks, cut up veggies, cheese cubes, etc., and plenty of bottled water. I have never been hungrier or thirstier in my life than when breastfeeding, especially at the beginning.

Soup? Lentil, chicken, bean, split pea. Bake some biscuits and corn muffins and freeze them to go with the soup. Whatever you do, be sure to portion into meal sized containers. It takes a long time to thaw a vat of soup that serves 20. After Emma was born we found (and still use) a local organic veggie delivery service. They will also deliver eggs, milk, cheeses, herbs, and pasta, all organic. PM me if you want more details. It was nice to get groceries delivered because taking a newborn anywhere requires as much prep as a military invasion.

I heard on the news tonight that food is becoming an issue in the affected areas, along with medicine and fresh water. As always, the hardest part is getting the supplies to the people that need them.