Margaret Pilgrim

A neighborhood dim sum house used to make fabulous shrimp cakes, but they were a little greasy for my taste. Then I found that they actually fried them twice and that I could buy them after the first fry which allowed me to pan grill them without additional oil. Such a treat, and as you suggest very little work.

It's called a trail of crumbs.

Quoting from the link, "As told by Simon Majumdar in his podcast, Eat My Globe" ...

Well done, both you and Charlie. It's double the fun when we click with others over a shared interest or hobby, THEN click again over a love of great food!

As unearthed by our own Simon Mojumdar, thoughts on fish and chips.

I have consumed countless supposed Greek and Turkish kababs in France. Sliced to order with fresh garnish, they are often the best option in small villages, other than the ersatz pizzaria. However, as you suggest, husband was just the other day mentioning the myriad questionable street foods we have eaten with no ill effects. tither they are safer than their reputation or we have constitutions of wild dogs. That said, I wouldn't trade one kabob or hand pie or North African pastry for a 3* tasting menu. Nor the exchange between us and sellers, for this is part of the meal. (They go bananas when I ask for triple harissa.)

I can't think of any special recipe that I'm good at, but the grand-kids can be coaxed into eating things they think they don't like when their mom tells them "Ama made this."

Years ago, many, my m-i-l watched me make gravy (whisking flour into drippings, then adding and whisking in liquid) and asked me how i ever learned to make it that way. She used the slurry method. I told her from my mother. I related our conversation to my mother, who looked at me as if I were mad, and replied that she NEVER made it that way, that she always used a slurry. HUH? I guess i extrapolated from white sauce method, but I stand by it as it results in silky, lump free gravy. (My mother ALWAYS strained her gravy.

Corn dogs were the draw at "Pronto Pups", the local end-of-Main Street drive-in which served as the turn around for cruising the drag in my teen years. Steaming hot and sllathered with French's mustard, they were really pretty good. Cheaper was an order of spiral fries. In those days i could enjoy and digest both.

Pork tenderloin, nectarines, Calvados, cream.

Pasta with vodka sauce is a no-brainer. Half a jar of Rao's marinara sauce, large glug of vodka, somewhat more heavy cream than vodka. Boil pasta, done. If energy allows, add sausage balls or peeled prawns.

An interesting way to enjoy the best of both worlds is an uncooked oyster pasta. Essentially, almost liquify shucked oysters in a blender. Cook and drain fettuccine; toss with olive oil and very small amount of minced garlic and chopped parsley. While pasta is still steaming hot, pour over the emulsified oysters, mix and serve. Like having the ocean on your plate.

Was your experience high tea or actually afternoon tea. High tea has traditionally been a simpler evening family meal. Not fancy but substantial enough to be what we call supper or dinner.

At my age, there aren’t many “popular” foods I haven’t tried. None, that I can think of. But an awful lot that I’ve tasted once and never again. KFC and Popeye’s; peanut butter anything; maple syrup on most anything; sweet barbecue; sagey breakfast sausage; anchovy pizza...and for starters.

Is it possible to ever totally remove that anchovy oil from shirt, pants and shoes? My heart is with you.

I really prefer plastic lidded glass containers but weight become a problem when packing a cooler. In fact, cooler weight is a problem. We bought a great cooler to carry stuff from city to country, only to find that when it was full it was almost too heavy for one of us to carry. So we offed it and bought two small coolers which work well as long as we use plastic containers. Three, say, two or three quart glass quart containers start adding substantially to total weight.

You have to allow for weight of contents also. Like a pound or so of lasagne or stew or leftover turkey...

Palmiers.

Very astute. The minefields we create for others and ourselves. I often recall the story about two Southern ladies catting, "You know, Mary Lou is SO TACKY. She's so tacky she puts dark dark meat in her chicken sandwiches."

Freak weather sent temps down 20 degrees, so a warming plate of Swedish meatballs.

I only use buttermilk for breakfast breads (biscuits, pancakes or waffles) and find that setting the milk/lemon juice to molder overnight results in a thick product in the morning.

Agree with lemniscate. A charity dining room will accept your stash gratefully. We have offed good but not to our taste product to St. Anthony's Dining Room here in SF. A win-win solution.

Hm...I get whey when making ricotta but none with yogurt. eta...aha...you are making Greek yogurt by straining yogurt? We have just enjoyed it simply chilled and thickened to custard consistency., therefore no whey.

You certainly can. Just to be safe, I usually pick up a small fresh organic yogurt to use as starter. Paranoid, and not traditional.

In an ongoing program of showing our grandkids that much of what you buy in packages and jars can be made at home, often better, we made yogurt without the aid of an appliance, the ancient descending heat method: Boil water in a heavy lidded pot, like enameled cast iron or similar. Bring milk to a simmer. Let cool until you can keep your (clean) finger in it 10 seconds. Add a spoonful of commercial yogurt to the milk and mix well. Empty water from pot and place small jars in it. Fill jars with the heated milk. Replace pot lid. Place pot on a folded blanket and wrap snugly. Leave until it has cooled to room temp. Better, leave it overnight. The yogurt will be somewhat creamy but will set up more as it cools more in the refrigerator. I used whole organic milk (1 qt) and organic plain yogurt (1 teaspoon). DELICIOUS product. Stupid easy. The hardest part is folding up and putting away the blanket 1