hjshorter

Added Jamie's Kitchen and I will be buying Baking With Julia today.

Not to mention having to unwrap 48 chocolate kisses, How on earth is that a timesaver? BTW, I have been known to make hot dog shaped hamburgers, but only because I picked up the wrong buns at the store. My four-year-old found it very amusing.

Marlene's butter tarts rock. I loved them at the pig pickin.

Wow, those sound incredible. Do you ever share the recipe? I used to be known for my dinner parties. Of course this way long ago, before kids. One of my signature dishes (I guess you could call it that) is Marcella Hazan's potatoes with mozzerella and garlic. Just the smell of them will induce a feeding frenzy in otherwise well-mannered adults. My no-fail potluck dish is orzo salad with almonds and apricots. I've never had any left over to bring home.

What if you're diabetic? Should you be forced to hunt down a "cafe" when all you want is a quick meal that fits within your meal plan?

I'm in. P.S. The tailgate party is an excellent idea, Bill. What are you bringing?

This is what we've got, and I love the arrangement. We keep pots and pans in two deep drawers right under the cooktop. We have the GE Profile Performance dual convection ovens. They're huge and have been totally reliable for the last 4 years. I'm pretty sure they were less that 2000, but it was 4 years ago, so price have probably gone up. If I design another kitchen it will not have the oven under the range. It's just a pain in the butt to stoop down to see into.

My mother did this with a pecan pie a few years ago - thank goodness no one was hurt in either case!

Fifi, I have the same cookbook from my grandmother. She married my grandfather in 1945 (after he came home from the South Pacific), and it was her first cookbook. I found a copy of Joy of Cooking from 1943 and it has fascinating stuff in it, like what to put in a care package to ship overseas, rationing, Victory Gardens...

I hope no one said this verbatim. [continuing] There was some of that attitude in the Semi-Homemade thread or the Rick Bayless thread. There was quite a bit of it on the Wal-Mart thread too. It's the same attitude I see on parenting lists from those who breastfeed to those who have decided to use formula for whatever reasons. The "you might as well be feeding your family from a dumpster" attitude. It sucks, it condescending, and it's wrong - regardless of the posters intent. I don't have the time, energy, or money to be a food snob. I'll even admit to liking Velveeta.

I'd love to jump in from time to time. Things will be a little crazy around here until we move at the end of Feb, so I can't promise I would be able to do every project. But it sounds like fun, and I've been meaning to get Baking With Julia for a couple of years.

The only time it has been an issue was when I was pregnant. Believe me when you're pregnant you get strange looks when you do order a drink, plus a whole lot of unsolicited advice. But before I started to show and it was obvious why I wasn't drinking, we got a little attitude in a couple of places. Not sure how to avoid that except by sharing our happy news with the waiter, or hanging a sign around my neck that said "I'm pregnant and won't be drinking." I always got bottled water during my meal or a non-alcoholic juice concoction, but it still wasn't enough for some servers more worried about boosting their tips than serving me what I wanted to drink. Brooks, I would go for the most expensive bottled water they have.

Are you talking about the place just south of Congressional Plaza? If so, it may have closed while that whole dumpy shopping center is renovated. India Grill, also in that same strip, is closed too.

That's where you get the house designer in on the action. Use the old kitchen while the new one is being built, then tear it down. Drywall and new floors are easier to do than new appliances and cabinets. I could see enclosing part of the area that currently houses the sink, cooktop, and counter to make a mud room. Take out the wall (or part of the wall) between the dining area and refrig/wet bar area. Move the washing machine out of your office and into the mud room. Just some ideas. We close on our new house, and will start renovating the new kitchen at the end of February.

Whaddya want for a box of those? Would you ship to Maryland?

Have you seriously considered that, Dean? That would be a great space for a kitchen, with plenty of room for storage, a loft ceiling, and that nice window to put a table next to. You could then tear down the old kitchen, make it into a larger living/dining area, and add a mud room for backpacks & sports equipment.

When I was pregnant and nursing I sure as hell paid attention to warnings about mercury contamination, listeriosis, raw beef, etc. Yes, people have been eating those forever, we ate stuff like that as kids, etc., yada yada yada, but when it's your kid, it makes a difference. My parents never made us wear seatbelts either but you wouldn't catch me putting my kids in the car without a car seat. More information isn't always a bad thing, and the truth is we know more now about potential dangers. I've been following the story on trans fats and had stopped buying them years ago. It's interesting that only now are they becoming a story when I've known about them and the bad things they do, since at least 1996. That's a case when a few more mass-market stories would have been a good thing.

That sounds suspiciously like what my mother calls American Chop Suey. Ground beef, onions, tomato soup, elbow macaroni, mixed together and served with a shake of cheese from the green can. Bacon would have made it slightly more edible, but we never had bacon.

Usually when this happens to me, it means take out Is Emma lactose intolerant or just doesn't like milk? She is allergic to the milk protein, which I understand is different from lactose intolerance. It's making cooking for her, and the rest of the family, interesting these days.

Just realized that it's 5 o'clock and we hadn't thought about what's for dinner - so it's pantry special night: Pasta with EVOO, parsley, red pepper flakes and grated Parm Steamed asparagus Milk for everyone, except Emma who will have OJ with added calcium. Ice cream.

I was gonna volunteer to be the guinea pig who tries one of the "recipes" but it would involve a trip to the store to buy all of the premade shit. No thanks. Now that I've seen the "recipes" for myself - holy cow they are appalling. I'm not anti-convenience. I use canned beans, spaghetti sauce from a jar, and salad in a bag sometimes. But there is no reason whatsoever to buy chicken in a can. None. If you can't (or won't) make it yourself, every grocery store sells rotisserie chickens that are a billion times better than chicken in a can.

My in-laws order from Little Ollie's (in Cherry Creek) every time we're visiting Denver and just rave about it. I've never understood why. Edit: I'm sure Mao's will be part of our next visit. It sounds right up their alley.

I'm with you.

I'm a competent home cook, went to cooking school for a couple of years, worked in a bakery, and have done some private catering. I use recipes a lot, mostly for inspration. If we like whatever it is, it goes in the file for frequent use. If it's not quite right, I make notes and try to get it to our taste. We like to try new things. Once a dish has been tweaked to perfection I don't see the point in deviating from the recipe, and I almost never experiment if we're entertaining. As Kristin pointed out, when you're on a tight budget you have less room for error. I don't have the luxury of dumping something that doesn't work in the trash. Edit: I forgot to mention that a big part of our meal planning is based on what my toddler and preschooler will eat. Once we find something they like it usually shows up on the table at least twice a week. Emma is going through a very suspicious phase, so big food changes aren't wise. I swear, sometimes it seems she thinks we're trying to poison her.

Ammonites would have trouble collecting eggs, vegetarian or otherwise. Amish would probably have better luck. Thanks. That was the biggest laugh I've had all day. Mudpuppie, where do you live that you're allowed to keep chickens? We're not allowed to where I am (Montgomery County, MD), at least not in the suburban areas. Animal control has a report occasionally about impounded chickens that were being raised for food or eggs.