fifi

I had to laugh at that. Most folks I know that have gardens are usually in the opposite pickle... how to use up all of that zucchini. You ask a good question. I don't remember a lot of vegetable casseroles, or at least not those that I would have thought of as being particularly southern. I would see the occasional squash casserole over the years, but I get stuck after that. I can't think of a single one that came out of my grandmother's or great aunt's kitchens... and they were great southern cooks. I do some eggplant things, mostly gratin though, and I don't think of them as southern. I think I am being kind of cooly Italian.

Rats... We had a thread here about that quite some time ago, or maybe it is buried in another kitchen thread. Anyway, I can't find it. (But then, my search skills aren't the greatest.) Anyway, I found a web site for a company that did custom hoods and they had the standard guidlines for how many cubic feet per minute (CFM) that were required for your particular stove (size and BTUs) and for location (against the wall or over an island. As I understand it, those guidlines are pretty universal. Maybe somebody here knows and can point you in the right direction. You could probably find out at a kitchen design showroom or something.

Sorry to hear you had that problem, amyknyc. I have several friends that have either GE Monogram or Profile kitchens. They rave about the service the few times they have had to use it... (calibrating an oven, fine tuning an icemaker, etc., no big problems.) In a lot of cases a call in the morning had the repairman there by that same afternoon. That is one thing that steered me to GE Monogram for the new house. Sounds like your area has a service problem.

ummm... I do that. My Weber Smoky Mountain will go 12 hours with one load of fuel. Outside... of course.

oops

Does that mean the the ChefMate stock pots won't work? They are stainless and I think they have a copper disk encased in the bottom. I have mostly Calphalon and Le Creuset.

I would really try to consider the dual fuel option.

My decidedly uninformed opinion tells me that I would go ahead and make that chicken, or whatever. They did say a half kilo in a week. And it is Spanish. See there, you can justify just about anything.

This one got me... Welcome Darcie B! Sounds like you will fit right in here.

That is a really cool site. I didn't know such a thing existed. My nephew is really into giving away food baskets and will groove on this.

My fondest memory of Vargo's was almost 30 years ago. We were there for a family dinner for some occasion. We were sitting in the bar. The chairs had these legs that kind of swept out and the room was crowded. The cocktail waitress tripped and upended a tray of drinks down my ex's back... twice. She was in tears. We reassured her. They gave him the money for the cleaners and loaned him a dry jacket. We had a nice dinner. It was a sad day when Jamail's closed.

Ok... I may have to do the "ye olde" demi just to say I have done it one of these days. Maybe I will continue to call my reduciton "goo" until then.

I have a fun game cooking story to relate from many years ago. My parents had a country place of about 600 acres. At one point, my grandparents retired there. My uncle came to live with them and they got into a hog raising operation. When that came to an end, my dad was left with what to do with all of those hog pens. He got some laborers and removed all of the wire and was left with this incedible pile of wood. He decided to burn it. Watching that huge fire was an all-weekend event. Looking at that huge pile of coals, his face suddenly lit up. "Linda... take a couple of buckets down to the creek where that ledge of clay is and bring back a couple of buckets full." This was dense and clean reddish clay. I had no idea what he was up to. When we got back, he had hauled this back haunch of venison out of the freezer and was sawing off the shank. We went into the garden and got some rosemary, garlic, and I forget what all. Having seasoned the meat, wrapped it in cheese cloth, then in foil, we started applying the clay. We ended up with a clay coated lump with the clay about 2 inches thick and fully sealed. (There are pictures somewhere with us covered in clay and that huge fire.) With a long handled shovel, we dug a hole in that pile of coals, placed the clay lump in there and shoveled the coals back over it. I think the shovel handle probably wasn't long enough because I think I singed my eyebrows. That was late at night. We left it until morning. When we finally dug it out, the clay had fired to something like a flower pot. We had a fun time seeing who could whack it with a hammer and finally get it to break. I cannot tell you how good that venison was. I remember it well but there is no way to describe it.

OK... I went back and reread the course. I will now have to change my wording. I do not make demi-glace. Who knew. I started reducing down the stock out of necessity when I went from a house with a freezer to an apartment with a paltry refrigerator freezer. Then I found new uses for this concentrated loveliness. It adds a silky texture to my onion confit. I glazed a roast with some once to rave reviews. A few tablespoons of chicken concentrate in the long cooked green beans is incredible. Etc., etc. etc. So, what do you call a product that is cooked down from several quarts of stock to a couple of cups of goo?

A guy at work is a volunteer Fire Chief in one of our larger suburban communities. A bunch of us were talking about this very thing at lunch one day. He told us that fires started from dishwashers and clothes dryers are very common. At our suggestion, he gave a safety presentation at the next big group meeting and had some statistics on the subject. I don't remember the numbers but they made a believer of me. I don't run the dryer or dishwasher while I am not here, and awake. My coffee pot has an automatic shut off, too.

Great ideas, all. I think I am headed for a Word template. I have a good printer so I will be able to do that. The laminating idea is really promising. While I like the sleeves so that if I update a recipe, it can be reprinted and reinserted, they are kinda ugly. The kids like the idea of removing the page to the kitchen like I do. I would have never thought to look at B&N for binders! All of the ones in the office stores are pretty ugly. That Levenger site probably has some interesting stuff. I have been there before. I just can't get it to load "while we are young" right now. I have Microsoft Office 2003 but didn't opt for Access. I am pretty mad at Access right now anyway. I had checked out what was already in Microsoft and didn't see anyting I was looking for. Judith, I sympathize. I have about 75 written up and about another 75 in scattered notes and in my head. There are also some that I have finally figured out "what mother did" but I haven't gone through the process to record measurements and such. (I think I am making Mamaw's potato salad this weekend.) I remember andiesenji talking about a voice activated recorder for doing that. That is a brilliant idea and I don't think the digital ones are that expensive.

I am starting to get interested in the idea of an induction unit. The concept of setting a temperature and not haveing to worry about it is appealing.

=R= ← This quote makes me scratch my head. Aflatoxin is fairly common. Certainly the mold that produces it is (an Aspergillus something or 'nother). It is certainly not restricted to the tropics. When I worked at FDA in the late 60s, we tested tons of shelled pecans for it. There were other dried spices, nuts and such that we tested, including powdered chile peppers from California and New Mexico for instance. Aflatoxin is one of those things that most government watchdog groups have "levels". If it occurs above a certain amount, the product is condemned. They did say that you had to eat... Hmmm... Maybe some of us here should take notice.

I had forgotten all about Sir Loin... And the horse... Pino's is now closed. I have some good friends that are friends with one of the daughters. I think the story is that they had an offer they couldn't refuse for that corner on Westheimer. But I also remember that they had another piece of property and were going to reopen. I will search the paper and see if I can find out what the deal is. I am sure it made the news. It was Marvin Zindler's favorite. Vargo's is still rockin' and they do have the lights for the holidays. There is a personal connection there. Many years ago when we first went there, my sister (older than me) exclaimed... "This is old xxxxx's sand pit for chrisakes." My grandfather owned a construction company and a long time supplier and friend owned the place and the lake is what was his sand pit. Magic Pan is ringing a bell but I can't place it. Anyone remember what they served? Why the pan was magic?

First a little explanation... I keep all of my recipes in Word files. These are in a plain, utilitarian format. From time to time, I will print them out and put them in a plastic sleeve in a utilitarian 3-ring binder. That is handy, because I can remove the page and pin it with a magnet to some convenient place in the kitchen while I am cooking. Now to my problem... For Christmas, the kids are requesting such a thing for a gift. I really don't want to give them something entirely as bare bones as what I have. They do want a binder with the plastic sleeves. I have said that is probably more practical that I send them a CD from time to time because I update them regularly. Nope. They want a book. I have searched the Microsoft site for templates and find none for recipes. I may have to "upgrade" my Word skills to come up with a classy template, uh... geese with blue bows and grapevines need not apply. But, where do you find attractive binders? I know there is a world out there that is into scrapbooking and maybe that is a source for something interesting. I just don't know about it. Have any of you ever done something like this? Any ideas? Thanks... Frantic Mother

I am out of demi-glace which is seriously inhibiting my next batch of onion confit. I guess I will have to gear up to do that. I have never done veal, always beef, because finding veal is hard enough, much less bones. And the cost! Oy! Does anyone have any strategies for getting some veal bits for making stock without having to empty out the 401k? I have a rather large Windsor pan sort of like this one, but the older style. That is what I use to make the demi-glace. I really don't do a bunch of straining. I put the stock in a large, tallish container and put it in the fridge. While it sits cooling enough to do that, the grunge settles to the bottom. Then, after it is cold, I take the fat off and spoon off the stock (it is usually somewhat jelly-like) leaving the stuff in the bottom. (I actually usually make a small pot of soup with a few cups of stock that I leave in the bottom.) The clear stuff from the top goes into the Windsor pan and I put it on at a very low simmer. I do this when I am going to be putzing around anyway so I check on it ever so often and skim if necessary. I don't change pots or anything. (Sorry, Marlene. You are going to have to find another excuse to get more pots. ) My favorite thing to store this stuff in is the little wide mouth 1/2 cup canning jars. They are getting hard to find, though.

Now that is sheer brilliance. I am having one of those why-didn't-I-think-of-that moments. (I seem to be having a lot of those lately.) Here I am trying to downsize my cooking, both because my freezer storage is limited and because I hate waste. I was moving some of the stuff around in the storage room... er guest bedroom... and I was eyeing one of the smaller stock pots and thinking that maybe I would make some stock with a smaller chicken and make a smaller version of Mayhaw Man's chicken pot pie. The whole concept of making a smaller batch of stock wasn't on my radar screen until then and I was all excited about the possibility. Then you come up with this. The crock pot never entered my mind.

BWAHAHAHAHAHA!

I haven't done this in years. It is a throwback to my childhood when my grandmother would fix this for me to shut me up. You take a really good soft white bread, preferably homemade by my Great Aunt Minnie. Trim the crusts and apply a generous slather of good butter to both pieces. Apply a liberal amount of sugar. Smush the two halves together to trap the sugar in the butter. I can feel the sweet crunch of the sugar now.

I have been tempted to leave it on the electric burner overnight but I haven't done it yet. I would be leary of gas. When I have wanted to leave it overnight, I have put the pot in the oven at about 220 or 225. I check to see that it is barely moving, no real boil.