Margaret Pilgrim

Some dozen years ago we subscribed to seltzer delivery from a zany Laverne and Shirley couple aptly named The Seltzer Sisters. They had acquired a collection of these fabulous bottles which they filled and recycled weekly. Their product and service was sublime, but we eventually got kicked off the client list because we couldn't keep up with their deliveries. We accrued bottles which were their stock and trade and slowed down their turn-around as we accepted more crates than we returned. Fun while it lasted...

Consider also PASCADE from the Auvergne region of France.

or the cook...

Open a new window; open a new door. Travel a new highway that's never been tried before...

Depending on where you live (in the US), there is access to many brands of French butter available. My reference was based on Bordier and Beillevaire we usually buy in France. Both are quite decent but not revelatory. The singularly excellent butter we've enjoyed in France is Le Ponclet, however almost all of its production goes to restaurants.

Good butter is one of my budget splurges. I use a LOT of better in cooking. From butter based sauces to rounding out many pasta and meat sauces with a hefty splat of good butter. Always in a pureed soup. I particularly love Irish and Finnish butters. Frenc are good but I think overrated.

This for Anna N.: egg Benedict with SPAM! DELICIOUS.

Maybe offer on another board?

Correct pronunciation renders it less offensive.

More a reference than a cookbook or reader, La Bonne Cuisine is a worthwhile addition to a kitchen library. It has been a guide for many familiar chefs/writers.

A platter of asparagus seems both seasonal, festive and a color/nutritional balance to the suggested dishes

Lucky, lucky you!

No, I just add more butter.

No pic, since I posted it last night after dinner! Leftover brown rice with Thai curry and cabbage, splash of sriracha sauce; French roast coffee with milk.

I don't have any form of pressure apparatus. I steam potatoes for mash, and peel them only because peel jams the ricer. But it sounds excellent.

The only time I peel potatoes is for mash. It stays on for fries, baked, salad, casseroles. Husband married me because I never finished my steak; I married him because he leaves his baked potato skin.

Pan grilled peppers and mushrooms Chicken thigh and cabbage in Thai red curry, brown rice.

Thanks for this. I'll try it! It sounds "right" to me as I grill whole okra very briefly to minimize the "slime" factor. OO, salt and pepper -> delicious. And scissors are very underused in the kitchen. We definitely prefer scissors for foccacia and pizza.

No pics, but we had sauerkraut in the form of choucroute and bratwurst the other night. Luscious, mellow and very digestible. I braise "good", jarred from Bavaria, or cold pack fresh sauerkraut in duck fat and butter with a thinly sliced onion, garlic clove, white wine, chicken broth, black peppercorns, juniper berries, bay leaf until the liquid is absorbed and kraut silken. i even like it cold. next day.

Man does not live by bread alone. As my mother would say, food for the soul.

Wish you were here. I'd off a pound of Bordier algue butter, bought in a moment of exuberance. We used it with seafood but also on grilled meats, like lamb chops. We do enjoy adding seaweed to bread (esp. 18 hour) to serve with big fish soups. But back to seaweed butter, you can well make your own buy blending fresh or re-hydrated seaweed into butter of your choice.

Square one = use a scales.

Hey, I've ordered a vegiburger in country France. Actaully, I think I've eaten the only two vegiburgers languishing in French coolers.

Apologies in advance for thread drift, but for about a year we have been buying and very much enjoying Irish and Finnish butters. $3.99/8oz. Lovely color and flavor, excellent melters. I have to admit that we go through a LOT of butter. These (Finlandia and Kerrygold) fit our use and taste.

A cautionary note regarding various masa and corn products. Buy close to your needs and watch best-by dates on dried corn products. In our (recent) experience, they are a favorite host for pantry moths, eggs and larvae, and easily enter your household unnoticed in packaged goods, grains and grain products preferred. I have tossed some 20 pounds of masa, corn meal and polenta in the last several months. And I'm not winning. Once introduced to your larder, they are uncomplaining guests who happily accommodate themselves with what's available after you get rid of the original product they came in in. We think we are rid of them, only to find we are just between birthings. This morning, husband announced that he killed 4 before breakfast and is sure we are at the beginning of a new cycle. They prefer whole foods, not white flour, altho they will go for pasta, maybe the egg, and dry cereals. We have opened brand-new 'Cheerios to have a moth fly out of the sealed plastic inner bag. They readily chew through plastic. Our pantry looks like a glass and tin forest.