Margaret Pilgrim

Thinly sliced pig tongues in vinaigrette = delicious and approachable dish. Tongue tale: a school roommate and I unexpectedly dropped in on my parents around meal time. On seeing us, my mother exclaimed, "Oh, no! We're having tongue!" My roommate replied, "Super! I LOVE tongue!" She immediately had my mother curled around her little finger.

One of our favorite hosts in the Yonne dept of France used to serve delicious pigs ear canapes. Braised with aromatics and wine, succulent and porky. Excellent. And similarly, he transformed andouillettes into small morsels of goodness that were a perfect foil to a glass of wine. He served us many outstanding plates, many with benefit of scant description for some of his guests.

Everything you need to know about that Thanksgiving turkey.

As I recall sandwich spread, the first couple of tablespoons out of the jar were a nice sandwich addition, but it staled quickly and took on an "old oil" flavor.

Our last cassoulet was here. Quintessential, enormous. I remember thinking at the time, "This is the cassoulet of your life" and meaning that it was enough to sate me for life. It did.

Yes. Am hoping to buy it locally and in a larger size.

Connoisseur. Sometimes excellence comes in surprising packages.

I've gone through a litre each of Shark medium and "he-man". They are quite alright but both sweet to my taste. More like sweet chili sauces. I'm still looking for Panich.

My father used to be amused to share (Wilson's brand) jarred pickled pigs' feet with me when I was about 4 years old. To this day, I love pickled meat products: fromage de tete, tongue, cold meat in vinaigrette.

In our family's case, their concern is not calories or amount of fat intake but rather mouth-feel of very rich beef.

Perhaps hackneyed, but we enjoy super-aged syrupy balsamic with Belgian endive.

Are you using that clay vessel stovetop? What kind of heat source?

Watch geese are indeed forces of nature, and not to be underestimated. However, I believe that geese that are being raised for FG rather quickly become addicted to the gravage process, the sensation of being overfed and are pretty placid.

In my palate imagination, these spices and the chocolate can meld into a mole spectrum. It should work.

Singapore noodles.

That sounds like my m-I-l’s except I didn’t understand that the sweet potatoes were intentionally mashed. I thought it was just their nature.

Whatever you add Durkee's to, the result tastes like Durkee's. I use with great caution. In fact, except for husband's poultry sandwiches, I don' use it.

Durkee's is kind of a sweet mustard sauce. As I've written, ubiquitous in Montana, as it is in many regional recipes and certainly on poultry sandwiches. Not at all to my taste. But it certainly rings a chord with those who have a sweet-savory tooth.

I had an "aha" moment when a poster on another forum told another, "I'm not arguing with you. I'm correcting you." And I thought, "Over half of my life explained in 9 words."

Aha! My Montana MIL used to make "sweet potato salad", which I thought sounded weird but which was quite good. Not mashed, but cubed. I never had her recipe so don't know for sure that it contained Durkee's but in retro, it probably did. FWIW, I make this infrequently by just subbing sweet potato for white potatoes in my usual potato salad recipe.

I'm not at all surprised that the kids championed this combination. In a perfect world, the cinnamon buns were considered dessert, regardless of the timeline in which they were consumed.

I am reminded how, as a young bride, I lived next door to young French woman. Every afternoon I would hear soft, steady pounding, I suppose as she prepped veal or chicken. Timid and callow, terrified of the language barrier, I never made the effort to know her, to share our backgrounds and to learn so much. A major regret.

Bloody beef. I was a guest of a school friend's parents at the St. Francis Hotel in SF. The table ordered fillets. I ordered mine well done, everyone else, rare. 5 large, glistening, gorgeous steaks arrived, along with my small, shriveled lump of coal. I never ordered well done again.

Many supermarkets sell a "select" grade under store name and with a tender guarantee. I.e., money back if not satisfied. It's not external fat but too unctuous mouthfeel that they object to. That cut looks to me very close to chuck, maybe first rib? I usually shop at a stand-alone butcher and could easily get this cut, especially if they were shown the photo. In my experience, the same has been true of supermarket butchers if you are willing to wait for then to accommodate special cuts.

re what you could carry on the trail, in 1909, my father, age 16, and a friend bicycled from the Pacific Ocean to Yosemite Park. They carried sleeping bags, bacon and beans.