KatieLoeb

This goes back to my usual method of freezing the pesto in an ice cube tray that's been coated with non-stick vegetable or olive oil spray. When the cubes are done they pop into a zip-lock freezer bag and are perfectly portion controlled and utterly convenient in this sort of circumstance. One cube will make canned tomato soup taste homemade. One cube also instantly turns canned minestrone into Soupe a la Pistou that tastes like you slaved over it. A salad and some crusty bread and you're done. A couple of cubes tossed into the hot pasta, or put through the microwave on the "defrost" setting first and you have instant pasta with pesto in as long as it takes to boil the pasta. Some defrosted pesto spread into a DiGiorno type pizza shell and topped with some sliced tomatoes and some shredded mozzarella makes for a pretty quick and tasty pizza. Other easy and fast "I-can't-deal-with-cooking" meals are the quesadillas I whip up from pre-packaged tortillas, shredded cheese and whatever veggies are in the pantry. At this time of year it is inevitably fresh tomatoes, but even jarred salsa will do in a bind. Cook in well greased small saute pan until cheese is melted and quesadilla is completely warmed through and slightly browned on the outside. Cut into wedges with a pizza wheel and you're good to go.

I've used Splenda as a replacement for about half the sugar in a flan recipe (not for the caramel, obviously, just the custard itself) and also to replace half the sugar in a bread pudding recipe with perfectly edible and tasty results. No funny aftertaste to me, but perhaps that's because I only used it to cut down on the amount of pure refined sugar in the recipe, and not as a total replacement.

I finally reached the point where my stomach growling was making it hard to concentrate so I got a plate of this evening's staff gruel. Today's selection was shredded chicken, white rice and roasted vegetables. Pretty plain, but well prepared (one would hope so at a restaurant of decent caliber) and just perfect for what I wanted at the time. Something to muffle the growling... I'm thinking about stopping for some soup dumplings on the way home. [Homer Simpson voice-over]Mmmmmm....soup dumplings.[/Homer Simpson voice-over] Shanghai comfort food that will perfectly suit my mood. I'll eat those, curl up in bed and watch TV and then go look for something sweet in the fridge for my before bed snack. If I were being righteous it would be fruit, but I suspect that later on I will do a transformation that will look something like this: Not THAT suits my mood...

I have a George Foreman Grill that I'm quite fond of, but I have always coveted a Showtime Rotisserie. Counter space issues have been what has prevented me from succumbing thus far. But I think if I were to rearrange a few things like the coffee maker and the blender there'd be room... Basilgirl, I am much encouraged by your recommendations. As goofy and annoying as the informercials can be, it's nice to know it really works on those things they show during the sales pitch.

Co-worker has been placed on earth specifically to test my limits today. Brought in a large bucket of Jersey Shore Caramel Corn. This stuff makes Cracker Jacks look like ghetto food. Crunchy, sweet AND salty. What more could a girl ask for? Several handfuls later I am much improved in mood.

Well - Fifi has tagged me so I guess I'm it. I hope my bizarre eating habits aren't too dull, or too revealing of my other *ahem* idiosynchracies. Started today as I always do. Big cappuccino from the dining room. One of the advantages to working for a restaurant is having the cappuccino machine downstairs at all times! Makes the long hours pass with a much higher level of alertness. Otherwise getting my synapses to fire in the absence of caffeine is like trying to spark a campfire with wet wood I've had a couple of North Star Farms peaches so far. Late summer peaches are SO good! Not terribly hungry today as lunar cycle issues are making me feel a bit queasy. Also like I'm birthing a small litter of porcupines, but this too shall pass when the painkillers kick in. Then I assume I'll be back to my usual hoovering self. Am I the only woman that feels like any foodstuff that isn't nailed to the floor isn't safe in my presence at "those" times? Particularly anything chocolate, fried or carbohydrate loaded. I'm having visions of a big plate of mashed potatoes... More later...

Oh yes - definitely have to start thinking about who to subject to this next. Hmmmm, she said, plaintively contemplating who her victim might be.... Today was a l-o-n-g day, after a night of insomnia fretting over this morning's meeting. Mercifully, I was well prepared and duly rewarded. And thanks for the props! After trying to make my bosses look good over the course of my tenure, I'm pretty jazzed about putting a "feminine" spin back on the wine list at Striped Bass, as well as being self-reliant in terms of spending and cost-of-goods percentages. There's no one to condemn but myself at this point. It's all about MEEEE ! Hopefully my frugal nature (built on years of necessity) will bode well for the beverage programs at all three restaurants. Really looking forward to the challenge. Just getting home from toasting my good fortune with Herbacidal. Had a leftover stuffed cabbage roll as a snack. I'm about to go mix myself another light bourbon & Diet Coke to prevent last night's insomnia from making a repeat visit tonight. No big plans yet for breakfast. Have managed to scam the staff gruel for breakfast (usually scrambled eggs, fruit salad and some form of carbohydrate du jour) yesterday and today by getting in early enough to join the lunch staff. Mondays I'm always in early to do the physical inventory (Like the Dunkin' Donuts guy - "Time to count the bot-tles...."), and today I was in early for my meeting. If I manage to get in early enough to join the lunch staff for breakfast tomorrow it will be a personal record. I'm hoping to shift my hours toward a more "usual" time frame (say 10-6 or so) and keep my evenings to myself to attend wine classes, have some semblance of a social life, read, write, etc. Mercifully, I have the able assistance of one of our fabulous staff, who herself has just been promoted to sommeliere. By dividing the duties between myself during "normal" business hours (to do the meeting with wine reps, ordering, going down to the retail warehouse to get order totals for the accounting folks, etc.) and an active, on-the-floor "sales person" to deal with the customers during dinner service, I hope that we can best serve everyone's needs without having ONE person have to work sixteen hour days six days per week and get burned out as has happened in the past. I'll let y'all know what tomorrow brings as soon as I get there! edited for appaling spelling

D'OH! Gawdammit! I leave this place for a couple of hours to have a couple of drinks with Herbacidal and look what happens to me! It's been an interesting day to be sure. I've been cybertagged and finally recognized and promoted for my long suffering and hard work saving the company bucks. Quite a day of momentous events by anyone's standards! Someone has to 'splain (As in, "LUUUUCEEEEEY! You got some 'splainin' to doooo.... ) the "rules" to me. Am I to report every morsel and tidbit that crosses my lips for a few days? It won't be pretty, and it probably won't be that interesting. I'm game, but I want to make sure I understand what I've been tagged to do. And Fifi - our egg purchasing habits are frighteningly similar. Clue me in and I'll fill in the rest. If you can't dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bullshit!

Any resemblance to Duck Skin of the Gods? (from Peking duck, of course.) Soba In the Pavlovian reaction it has on me - definitely. Not as lacquered and carmera-pretty perhaps, but equally crunchy and rich tasting. Not sure I'd wrap it in a pancake or put hoisin on it. It's pretty tasty all by itself. Actually so is the duck skin, so I guess the answer is yes!

Indeed! Makes you feel like a member of the Empire, or maybe the long lost Hapsburg heir for those last few delusional monarchists out there . Truly one the nicest experiences I can think of. Service is IMPECCABLE, everyone is dressed appropriately and on their very best behavior. It's like you can look around the room and suddenly imagine yourself there a hundred years before, and the only difference would be the fashions.

I'm trying my darndest to convince Herbacidal to come up from Philly with me. Perhaps some additional begging and pleading from the masses will make him feel "special" and cause him to commit to said activity with more than three hours notice*? He's quite good at arranging these gatherings, as evidenced by the fabulous Chinese New Year's feast he helped organize here in Philadelphia for about seventy hungry DDC members. There are lots of witnesses. He can't beg off now... *This would be quite out of character for him. Trust me.

Jinmyo and Fifi: It really is a lovely memory for me. I'm not certain if I detect a note of sarcasm (what - sarcasm here at eGullet???!!?? Unthinkable!) in your comments, but I really do remember those holidays quite fondly. And NOTHING has ever come close to the smell or flavor of that roasted pig on Christmas Eve in my mother's cousin's back yard. I've tried in vain to reproduce the sensation by bravely trying any and all authentic pernil that I find in Latino communities all over. But nothing is made with the same care and love, and nothing can ever compete. (Side note - this roast pig worship is something I must hide from the Jewish other side of my family. Remember - I am a proud example of melting pot culture as a card carrying "Jew-ban" girl )

Just today I found a new and (supposedly) easy means of decorating for those of us that are "art-impaired", as I am. They're called "Wallies" and they're pre-cut stencils and murals made of wallpaper that you just moisten with a sponge and put up. Voila! Instant decor, wall border, decoupage, etc. This was one of my personal favorites - the Tuscan Countryside Window mural: and close up: I'm thinking of putting it on my dining room wall that is under the stairs to this floor (house is multi-level and has a two story cathedral ceiling in dining area) so when I finally get rich and install the wine cellar under those stairs (all that wasted space!) this could be the door to that. Could be kinda cool. Also considering putting a grape vine around the dining area with clusters of grapes and leaves (see HERE), however that would require painting in the vines I think, and that's way out of my league. These thingies are pretty cool and could definitely make decorating say, a nursery, very inexpensive and simple. You can check out the whole product line at Wallies.com

It's so funny you should say this. My mother always refused to make Cornish Hens because she said they looked "...like little fetuses in the oven" and she couldn't handle the visual.

Rich: Actually, the roast pork is traditionally served on Noche Buena, or Christmas Eve, which is a much bigger family get together than Christmas day in the Latino community. The Cubano side of my family in Miami would always dig a pit in the back yard and roast up a whole pig that night. Preparations began the day before, when hundreds of little slits were cut into the skin of the pig, and small slivers of garlic were inserted all over. Then came the mojo of naranja agria, or bitter orange juice and spices. After a day of roasting slowly, the entire pig would be falling off the bones and the skin was a lovely crispy treat that bears no resemblance whatsoever to those nasty pork rinds in the snack aisle. This is Pork Skin of the Gods and the most incredible thing you've ever tasted. Of course you can also hear your arteries audibly choking off with cholesterol while you consume it, but you'll die smiling for sure

If this be your only criteria then any heuringen will do. Enough of the local wine and not quite enough of the local food will make for silliness, oom-pah music and singing at any one of a number of spots, particularly in Grinzing, the tourista capital of such behaviour in Vienna. However, if you seek a quality dining experience, then the locals may not necessarily be your yardstick. I'd suggest sticking with the advice you've received from various eGullteteers and try Steireck or Nicky's.

Isn't a lot of this "food folklore" related to the days of yore when there was no refrigeration, no shellfish/fish farming, etc.? It's the same basis for not eating bottom feeders or pork if you keep kosher. Back in the days of rampant trichinosis and skanky shellfish without refrigeration there was logic to this. Nowadays if you have a fish purveyor or a restaurant that you trust, it's more myth and legend than fact, I think. I just had some AWE inspiring Kumamoto oysters last month that were just perfection on the half shell. My restaurant still serves oysters all summmer, but they are carefully chosen by the chef from their sources. No one wants to risk a law suit from food poisoning or worse. I suspect the risks involved have far more to do with sourcing than with whether or not the month has an "r" in it.

First day of seventh grade. New school, new dress. Walking away from cashier at cafeteria my tray is up-ended by an upper-classman. Spaghetti and sauce everywhere. Definitely in my adolescent trauma file. Years of therapy and I'm still not over it. Need I say more?

This is exactly what I was talking about! Nasty flying vermin that eat garbage and turn it into bird guano. That's their whole purpose in the food chain. Ewwwww...

Lesley: If you're fortunate enough to be in Vienna to eat pastries then just go directly to the Hotel Sacher and sit in that lovely salon and be served like an aristocrat and have your cake and your schlag to top it too! It's just so damned civilized...

YES! This book is brilliant and definitely instructive. I recently made a three layer vegetable terrine inspired by one of the illustrated recipes in this book in the bottom part of my William-Sonoma "fat-free" draining loaf pan set and it turned out rather well. I adapted a recipe (originally for a mushroom pate) from a low fat cookbook I'm fond of and just divided the basic batter into three and whirled it in the food processor with spinach, blanched carrots and mushrooms and then layered it into the pan. It came out tri-colored and tasty, although the waxed paper the recipe suggested lining the pan with and folding over the top of the batter stuck a little bit. But it was worth experimenting with and I'd highly recommend getting yourself a copy of this book at a used bookstore or off of eBay.

This post inspired me to look for calves' liver in the market that right on the way home from work. Alas, they only had beef liver that looked nasty (but was on sale for .99/lb.) so I passed. Perhaps I'll check a different market tomorrow on the way home and make liver, bacon and onions! I haven't had that in ages, and although I don't think of it often, once in a great while it's a wonderful thing.

My older copy of Joy of Cooking has instructions and illustrations on how to skin a squirrel just prior to the Brunswick Stew recipe. I don't know about this. Although it might be squab to some folks, I still think it's a nasty city pigeon that eats garbage and turns it into bird shit on any public monument! I'm for the domestic rabbit as a substitution, unless we can get ahold of some of those nice apple-eatin' squirrels! Lord knows how tough and stringy those suburban squirrels might be from dodging cars and pet cats!

Best I could do was a Cointreau and Tonic. That might be delicious but I can't stand the taste of tonic. Too acrid for me! Yech! Cointreau and soda with a splash of sour mix and/or lemon/lime juice might be good and cut down on the sweetness as well.

Cointreau is pretty good in a classic Sidecar as well. 2 parts brandy or cognac 1 part Cointreau 1 part fresh lemon juice. Shake and strain into a "birdbath" glass that has a sugared rim. I absolutely love these. They're particularly tasty if you substitute Calvados for the brandy, thus making a Calvados Sidecar. Janet your creation sounds pretty tasty too!