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Please tell me that you will include some good "dent corn" that tastes so good on the cob. I am one of those strange folk that thinks sweet corn is insipid. Perhaps I can experience it vicariously. BTW . . . The ranch guy where the purple prickley pear comes from says it blooms yellow. We shall see . . . we shall see. My sister says this guy doesn't know a pear from a pecari.

Oh my goodness. That pork filling looks too good to believe. I am saving this link. The addition of the salsa to the masa it truly inspired. You are just about to convince me that I need to make tamales. You just can't buy something like that. Those things exude LOVE.

Oh dear . . . That is inspired. I could put a pan in the Weber bullet. It holds a reliable 225 F. You could put some foil over the top at the beginning to get them sweating down then remove the foil for later. Hmmm . . .

I have a lot of friends in Bellingham WA where the style of fish (dry) is what you describe. This version gives some good information. I copied it from the e-mail. BRINE FOR SMOKED SALMON 3 – 4 Bay leaves 3 tablespoons liquid smoke (optional) 2 – 3 tablespoons molasses 1 tablespoon whole pepper corns 1 lb. dark brown sugar 2 pinches pickling spice few dashes of Johnny’s Seasoning Salt ½ - 1 cup plain salt (not rock salt, don’t know why) ½ gallon water Skin side up in brine, weight top to submerge fish for overnight. Place on racks skin side down till tacky & shiny. Smoking tips: Generally, fish is “hot smoked” these days. Wash St. health regs require reaching 175 degrees F. to kill bacteria. It’s difficult to get to this temp in smoke houses with remote fire ducted to smokehouse. The wood of choice in the NW is Alder- don’t use bark as it imparts a bitter flavor. Commercial smokers are good if they reach temp (some don’t, so not much smoke) and have good capacity. They have the advantage that chip holder is easily removed without disturbing fish. 3-4 hrs. smoking will usually get good flavor w/o drying out fish too much. Rick’s trick of partially pre-cooking fish will decrease smoking time. During smoking, note moisture by flaking apart meat enough to see if liquid is still present. After liquid is gone, smoke to desired dryness and flavor. Soak wood chips in water before smoking. Smoking can be done in a briquette barbeque like a Weber (a hassle- much attendance required). A gas barbeque with dual burners and a flip lid is a good way to go. Advantage is that whole sides can be smoked at once. Home Depot has a cast iron wood chip container (~$10.00). It goes directly on one burner, then aluminum foil over the box and rest of the bottom of the BBQ. Fish can be set on several stacked racks above. Chips in box will smoke for ½ to ¾ hour, and then remove remaining wood charcoal from box and refill with fresh wet chips. Disadvantage is that this requires moving racks with fish each time chip box needs refilling. Only the burner under the box is lit, and heat can be adjusted (usually low) as needed with good control. Lid is kept closed, and 3-4 hours later, fish is done. Eat fresh, store in refer, or freeze for later. Lots of luck and let us know how you do.

Oh goody. Now I have another curiosity to baby along until it blooms to see what I have. The damned green blobs that we picked up on the beach three years ago have yet to bloom and I still don't know what they are. Even the botanist at the Museum of Natural History doesn't know. Now I have to wait and see if this thing blooms yellow. OY!

Ummmm . . . I'm thinking . . . I'm thinking.

Nope. No secret tamalada. We cheat. Someone makes a run to Dona Tere.

I have to share this. I just got the coolest Christmas gift ever in the history of the world. We exchanged gifts and had a tamale eating session tonight (last night?) because we are all scattering to the four winds for actual Christmas. My nephew gave me . . . get this . . . a piece of prickly pear cactus. Now, this is not just any prickly pear. It is a piece of one he found while on a hunting trip last week to this really big ranch east of El Paso. This sucker is PURPLE! And along the top of the paddles, the spines are about three inches long. He knows that I have this fixation on purple plants of all sorts so when he stumbled across this thing, he immediately "appropriated" some of it. He even scooped up a couple of buckets of the soil it was growing in. We spent some time speculating on where it would look best at the new house. The main challenge will be planting it somewhere raised so that it won't drown. This is one weird prickly pear. Now we are intensely curious about the fruit it might produce. We reminisced about making the prickly pear jelly, picking the fruit with tongs, not entirely avoiding the spines, the session with the tweezers. This thing is just beautful. I am all wiggly about getting it rooted and growing. You would think I just got a new puppy. I will post a picture of this prize soon. So . . . We have weird ideas about gifts. My nephew's favorite was my bags of alder and cherry wood for smoking.

There is a really big HEB at the 610 loop and Gulf Freeway. The closest big Fiesta might be the one on I-10, Katy Freeway just outside the loop. I would call first. Also try Hong Kong Market on Bellaire Blvd at Boone Road. That is quite a hike but might be worth the trip. After all, you can go down the road a bit to the Kroger center at Synott and get some tamales from Dona Tere. Let us know how you do.

Ah . . . Oiling the rims seems to be ultimately sensible. I know that I have seen everything from unglazed clay pots, clay pots that have a full glaze on the rims, pots that have spotty glaze on the rims. Oiling the rim makes sense, I think, in any type. But, I may be wrong. For instance, a fully glazed rim and lid, oiled, may not seal at all. Is that true? Oh . . . my, my, my . . . The devil is in the details isn't it? You, my dear, are the queen of the clay pots. Your wisdom is greatly appreciated. I just thought of something. What about the Chamba pots? I am not sure if they are "glazed" or not. (They are my after-Christmas treat to myself.)

Thanks for the tips, Paula. I am wondering now about the characteristics of the pot that may have led to the problem. Are the surfaces between the lid and pot unglazed? I am not that conversant on clay pots, but I intend to get there, so this little detail may be helpful to me.

The good news is that it was 68 F, sunny and breezy in good old Houston today. The bad news is that Chicago will be a whole heck of a lot colder than that and that is were I am going on Wednesday. I have been to the sporting goods store to get glove and sock liners, a hat and an ear band. I will layer up and waddle around like Frosty the Snowman. (No gratuitous remarks about waddling, please. ) I think there is a gumbo tutorial for the son in the offing. (Memo to self: Check and see if he has a wooden spatula. ) Braised beef short ribs are dancing in my head.

Oh dear . . . This is a true dilemma. I have conferred with colleagues, looked in books and have not found a solution. There are a couple of ideas out there. One is to get a drill or Dremel tool and attack it that way. Another approach would be to submerge the whole thing into a sink of water and see if that softens it. The soup may not make it but you may save to pot. I have looked in the Wolfert book and haven't found the proportions of the flour, water and oil. What did you use? I am beginning to think that might be part of the problem. I am looking at this from a position of total ignorance, having never tried the technique.

Now that is good information! I wonder if I have to sell my first born? (Well, actually, I would try to pawn off the second born. )

You might also check out one of the larger Fiesta Marts and a big HEB may be a possibility. What part of town?

When I went through the two to three month "diary" experience, I was amazed also. I was mostly talking to myself and doing the visualization thing but some of my friends and family would get this terrified look in their eye when I would get a pencil in my hand. Little do they know that the next step will be figuring out the details such as what goes where so I know what kind of drawer units, that kind of thing. I think you will be very glad that you had the delay.

The new Molly Stevens book All About Braising: The Art of Uncomplicated Cooking, comes highly recommended. I bought copies for the kids since I gave them a little Le Creuset earlier this year. I bought one for me but I have only flipped through it so far. Seems a bit more adventurous than some that I have seen. A site friendly link is below. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/039...3/egulletcom-20

I can't think of any reason to spend that kind of money for the All-Clad if things like lasagna are what you would be doing with it. Actually, the cheaper Pyrex® might even be better. The heat should be more even. The more I think about it, the idea of a ss lasagna pan just doesn't make a lot of sense. If it isn't the heavy All-Clad stuff, I doubt if it would double as a roasting pan very well. Putting it on a burner to deglaze might warp it. So now you don't even get the perk of a double duty use. Even better would be pottery like Emile Henry.

Oh . . . I hear you. We have only had a few snaps down here but I am traveling to Chicago next Wednesday for Christmas at my son's place. We are thinking a lot about what to cook. We have been focusing on Christmas dinner but we have other days to consider. There are things we want to do so we may default to some of my braising recipes because we can set things so that the cooking time isn't critical. After all, the oven being on only adds needed heat to the house. But . . . what do we do about the veggies? When I get back home, the time between Christmas and New Year's, I am committed to doing both beef and chicken stock. I am out of both. Hopefully, we will have a cold snap down here because my favorite thing to do is make stock when it is cold and rainy outside.

Fat Guy, My mother always said that the addition of the non-fat dry milk to the whole milk was the trick to her thick and velvety yogurt. Side by side trials proved her right. Now I am wondering about using all dry milk like you did. I would have never thought to try it. Having never used the packets I am not aware of what volume a packet is intended to make. I am wondering if you diluted it according to directions or made it more concentrated.

Oh my . . . Brisket from Pete's. I have always wondered what happens to the brisket from those Prime cows. I wonder what it is that they have. I certainly would be willing to give their seasoning a go. I think those guys kinda know what they are doing.

My sister has the slate looking porcelain tiles. She used black in the kitchen and utility. Then on the other side of the house she used a dark terracotta color. They make a very pretty floor. The area rugs look great on that floor as well. She is looking for one for the kitchen. There are some polyolefin rugs out there that are inexpensive and you can hose them off on the driveway if you get gunk on them.

I just noticed a TV commercial on this stuff. It is shot to simulate an old home movie from way back, 50s or 60s maybe. They made one big mistake that just jumped out at me. The "mom" is stirring the stuff with a red silicone spatula, that didn't exist back then. It just struck me as funny that they worked very hard to make the ad look like a period piece and then they made that kind of boo-boo.

Oh my goodness, breakfast is my favorite meal. This is especially true in Mexico. You can get wonderful soft cooked scrambled eggs. Over-easy isn't bad either. The star is the chilequiles. This is a casserole sort of dish made with the left over corn tortilla "chips" from the night before. The chips are thicker than you usually find here and they are bathed in chicken broth and salsa type seasonings with fresh cheese. Sometimes there is chicken in there. One time I had chilequiles that included the BBQ from the day before diced up. When you add some "stand up" (read . . . not soupy) refried beans I am in heaven. Don't forget the jalapenos en escabeche to get the old heart started. Any combo of eggs, cheese, sausage, potatoes, and salsa wrapped in a tortilla is also good in my book.

I have got to say that this is my favorite hunk-o-pig. I have taken to getting the shank portion from the butcher at my favorite Asian market that has the most exquisite pork. The butcher hauls out the whole quarter of a pig, complete with foot, and we discuss at some length where he is going to cut it. Admittedly, the discussion is mostly with hand signals because he doesn't speak much English and I am certainly not any good in Chinese. I bring the prize home and then decide what to do with it. Often, I put it in this concoction that I got from a Taiwanese friend: 1 large hand of ginger, about fist sized, sliced into the bottom of the pot 1 bunch green onions ½ cup light soy sauce (regular Kikkoman will work) ¾ cup Chinese cooking wine (usually labeled “not for consumption”… no kidding) ¼ cup white vinegar ½ cup rock candy 2 Tablespoons brown sugar ½ cup dark mushroom flavored soy sauce (KJ uses Pearl River Bridge brand) What is really fun is to carve a bamboo pattern into the skin and rub it with the dark soy. It makes a beautiful presentation. You baste it every so often and the skin and fat comes out with this lovely mahogany shiny glaze. The fat is to die for. The left over meat is great in tortilla wraps and the "juice" makes a wonderful soba noodle soup.