fifi

Don't give up on it too soon. The long running one, in General Food Topics I think, sinks to the bottom then pops up again. It has been doing that for a very long time. Besides, I think it would be fun to bop over to the other forum and see what folks are growing. How many kinds of basil do you grow?

The usual pattern is to cook some piece of meat on the weekend. (I was more organized about this a few years ago when my son was living with me.) Then for the rest of the week it was improvisation time. All of the following could be done with leftover pieces of pork, big honkin' baked chicken, roast beef, BBQ. When I do a brisket, I always throw on some chicken thighs and breasts. When you have smoked chicken in your freezer you are sitting on pantry gold. Make a really creative dinner salad with meat and a have fun concocting a dressing. Roll stuff up in a tortilla. You have the meat, then add onions marinated in lime, sour cream, cheese, avocado, salsa, whatever. Having Thai curry paste and cans of coconut milk on hand makes for a great "clean out the fridge" curry over rice. Fritatas are also a good repository for leftover meats and cheeses. Add made up sauces for pasta. Stir fry is a popular way to get more veggies in with that left over meat. Then there are the sandwiches that happen. And I will include quesadillas in that category. All of this is really fun in that you look at what you have staring you in the face and you get the creative juices flowing by asking yourself... "What can I do with that?" Sort of like Iron Chef at home.

Start a new thread on pannini makers! I don't think I have seen that one. That could get interesting.

That is why my LC is the absolute perfect pot for making the roux for gumbos or other roux based dishes. You have the heavy pot, which is essential, and the light colored interior so you can really judge the color as it develops.

Reducing onion juice to a syrupy consistency is something totally new to me and I have to try it. Could you give some details on the technique, please? And how would you get onion juice without a juicer? Could you just blend the hell out of an onion and then just strain it?

Corn dogs are creepy and evil. This was the beginning of the Incredibly strange cravings thread.

Corn Dogs! AAAIIIIEEEEE... *running from the room*

I found this article. I found one source for ordering them from some vegetarian web site and they were RIDICULOUSLY priced, like $20 or more. I think I paid $5 or $6 for a pack of 2 discs at BB&B.

Down on the first page of the This REALLY works thread, we talked about the bags and these discs you can get here at Bed Bath & Beyond. Someone, I think Toliver, found a site for the disc things. It apparantly wasn't on this thread, though. I can't find it. If I do, I will post it. Those things REALLY work.

I have to admit that the marshmallows are a bit over the top. They would make some really pricey S'Mores.

I would like to see something distinctive and stand alone like what he did with Rio Ranch. Not the same architecture, of course, just that level of wow. Cafe Annie needs a home equal to its stature. I haven't been there in about a year, either. But everytime I have been the food definitely had a big wow factor.

I haven't heard anything definitive but it wouldn't surprise me. Fashion Square has been a problem property since it was opened. Problem meaning that it never quite made enough money versus the huge investment. This story has come up before. Maybe this time they really will develop something that will give a return on investment. That is mighty expensive real estate. I would be surprised if you didn't see Cafe Annie open somewhere else. I can't imagine Del Grande closing his flagship and the place that made him famous.

It is now official. Jaymes is a genius! I found this source for tomatillos. This one had the most information. I have never ordered from this site but it sure seems to have good information.

Never heard about the rice thing. What heat?

Have you tried the onion soup recipe? i did it "by the book" the first time and it was wonderful. But, like I said up-thread, we quit putting the cheese into the soup. BTW... If you are good at making dark roux, try the Beef Fricasee (sp?). That idea of adding cream to leftovers for a sauce is truly inspired. I LOVE it.

My mother had a Tabasco pepper in a huge pot for several years just because it was so pretty with the multicolored peppers on it. It was her year round Christmas tree. She would drag it in on the porch for the winter. She had this "pet" mocking bird that used to fly into the porch to steal peppers from it. They had a "relationship" and would talk to each other. The only reason I ever grew jalapenos was so I could let them ripen to a bright red. You can rarely find them in the stores. They are so cheerful in salsas and such. I always wanted to grow poblanos and try to baby them with drip irrigation and a lot of compost. I dream of growing them with nice thick walls.

I have bought this stuff before. It is perfect for gifts when you don't want to saddle someone with a stupid gift that they will have to remember to drag out when you come over. I just set my target for what I want to spend and I don't really care if it is a "good value" or not. Like Cusina says, it's purty, and it doesn't have to be dusted or coordinate with the colors and style of their decor. Plus I can order and send it with a click of the mouse.

Here is a link to The Four Seasons in Houston. Click on the Picture Gallery.

Has the subliminal evil being that started the corn dog epidemic moved on to grapefruit juice? (Cue Twilight Zone Theme.)

Oops. I remember those things. My mother had one that someone gave her. I think she "threw it in the yard" declaring it the dumbest thing she had ever seen. We always just threw them in the oven on the rack alongside whatever else was in there.

Russets only. Oil or shortening rubbed on the skin. 375 or so (I am not sure about this oven) for an hour depending on size. Squish them a bit before doing a cross cut in the top and popping it open. Lately I have been using sour cream, s&p, bacon if I have it, and no butter, yet. When I have finished eating the insides I butter the crispy skin and eat that. I prefer a medium size rather than the mutant monsters. You get a better crispy skin to insides ratio. If I want the whole deal with cheese and whatever, (getting creative), I will slice them in half, dig out the insides, add my stuff, and bake the second time.

I agree. I have used that one for the same reason. I don't always have my favorite homemade beef stock. A good homemade chicken stock makes a really good soup and I almost always have that. I am trying to get better at keeping beef stock in the freezer but it is more difficult, and increasingly more expensive, to make.

I just KNEW that okra would raise its pointy little head.

For instance, I found out that GE Monogram ranges are made by DCS although they may have differences in the details. BTW... I found that out here.

I like the good beef stock route. In fact, your post is causing me to eye that remaining jar of demi-glace in the freezer that "just needs to be used up". I have done it many ways, but the all time family favorite is from Emeril's book Louisiana Real and Rustic. However, he does melt some cheese in the soup as well. We think that is superfluous so I leave it out. I do like the added herbs, though. That being said, let's get to the heart of the matter, the onions. I find the strongest onions I can. In fact, when I buy a bunch of onions and find that they are abnormally strong, the next thing to happen is onion soup. When you caramelize onions slowly and completely, strong onions come out so sweet and flavorful that there is nothing like it. I found that out years ago when my mother was growing Egyptian onions (also called "walking onions"). These things were so strong that cutting them up in the kitchen turned the whole place into a toxic waste zone. But they were the sweetest and most delicious onion on earth when stewed slowly with butter.