Socrates

Grilled eggplant, squash, roasted red and orange peppers, sliced avocado and smoked cheese-and the bread is spread with Xan's romesco sauce. Soc. And the slices are grilled too. Forgot to say that!

I'm smoking tomorrow and I thought I'd throw a few garlic heads in and smoke them too. Has anybody tried this? Any advice? Soc.

Hello, all. Been gone too long. Anyway, there are hamantashcen in the oven right now!

They would if they'd never been subjected to fast food and if they were used to good figs, salami and real crusty bread. We were not allowed fast food when we were growing up and I still don't like it, but I will drive through to get some decent ice tea when I haven't grabbed any from home. And not every place has good ice tea, btw. Nestee doen't count... but if a frog had wings, it wouldn't bump its ass hoppin'. :laugh: Point taken! Now I gotta go eat some figs and salami and bread...

They would if they'd never been subjected to fast food and if they were used to good figs, salami and real crusty bread. We were not allowed fast food when we were growing up and I still don't like it, but I will drive through to get some decent ice tea when I haven't grabbed any from home. And not every place has good ice tea, btw. Nestee doen't count...

Don't forget pandowdies...

Yeah the Molino Creek dry farmed tomatoes are famous in this area. Xan. says their the best. We get them at the farmer's market and also the farm's sugar snap peas. And purple bell peppers!

Those are great ideas, I'll pass them on to Xan. She usually roasts different colored peppers all the time, so the tart would be colorful too. Since she can now pretty much be on her feet for long periods, I think she'll be drying plum tomatoes again in the dehydrater. We get them from the farmer's market-- big boxes of them at a good price.

Real southern ham biscuits. . .

This sounds so familiar, I'm sure Xanthippe makes it--or something that's really close to it. Is it from an Italian cookbook on vegetables?? It sounds like Jack Bishop's recipe from Italian Vegetarian Cooking, I make this same recipe A LOT! Yup that's the one allright! We naever get tired of it, and it even makes tomatoes that are out of season taste pretty darn good. Gotta remind Xan. to make it again...

There's a legendary story about my dearest Xanthippe (back when I didn't know her) frying chicken naked. Wish I had been there! And she still has a scar...

This sounds so familiar, I'm sure Xanthippe makes it--or something that's really close to it. Is it from an Italian cookbook on vegetables??

Great, thanks so much. And Xanthippe thanks you too, and my mother, my father... Will llet you know how ours turns out. We always have Plugra in the freezer.

That does it, I have to ask Xan. to try this-using maybe peaches or nectarines and ollallie berries instead of strawberry and rhubarb. I'm sorry to say I don't like rhubarb. Any particular tart crust recipe you can recommend? :

We can send you some fresh ones if you want. There are a couple volunteer bay laurels in our yard--Xan. goes out and just snips what she needs. Let me know.

I have had both actually, I just didn't know the first ones were called mooncakes. I agree there both really good. Thanks for telling us (me) the difference.

Okay, I now know I'm a saccarovore too. Nice that we can name our affliction! Sorry, tho', but I don't know mooncakes, are they the same as moonpies??

= R = Hey, thanks for your comment, I do appreciate it. I really like to think we're all friends here and act accordingly. So I guess you said it when you talked about how we can all learn from these exchanges and make informed choices as a result. Cool. I guess, for me, I'd like to think my eating plan will help keep me well over time. Maybe it's really that there are two debates here- one is what "diet" (there's that nasty word again! )gives you quick weight loss, the other is what's healthy in the long run; I hope I'm doing something that's going to be healthy for the rest of my life. And I still would like to see those long-term studies I keep on harping about. What if any, are the effects of a low-carb "eating regimen" on the risk of stroke, cancer, heart disease and bone loss. This hasn't been tested yet. Tonight I'll drink a toast to long lives for all of us...

All I can say here is that this topic is like discussing religion or politics. There's no convincing the other fellow of your position or belief system because we all think we're right. I still believethere needs to be scientifically developed, controlled studies with people who have been on Atkins for years, and not 12 weeks, but as another poster said---I'm not a doctor. I do trust my endo., though, and he has worked with Dr. Reaven. I watch what I eat but don't obsess about sugar-free food (although I do like Splendra in an "average" cup of coffee-not the really good stuff), especially Xanthippe's great desserts. But I have cut out bread at most meals except special ones plus I really don't eat much pasta anymore (Xan. does, lucky woman, and bread too). I'll never ever say I'm on a "diet", though, because its as obscene a four-letter word in my vocabulary as ever there was one! Xan. says I'm wasting my breath trying to change you're opinions. To her, John Lennon had it nailed: "Whatever gets you through the night". I do what works for me, so leave other people alone to do what works for them. She should be a diplomat.

Look, this will get folks angry at me, but there's no magic to Atkins. It works for awhile because it's just another diet like the South Beach one, the old Beverly HIlls diet, Pritikin, the Air Force diet and all the rest--your restricting calories whether you know it or not. Your eating habits change enough in the way you approach food that you lose weight, expecially in the beginning stages. Plus you fill up faster when you consume the amount of fat in a typical Atkins meal. But my endocrinologist, who has worked with Stanford University's Dr. Gerald Reaven (he's an M.D. and prof. of medicine who heads up the division of endo. and metabolism) always says "diets" don't work in the end because you need to commit to a sensible eating plan for life and Atkins is not sensible in the long run. It may take years but sooner or later you will crave the carbs,etc. you can't have. All the blood tests that show improvement are fine for now, but what about blood tests done down the road?? There aren't any. None. No scientifically based, controled studies have been conducted on the effects of Atkins long term. Real science is in Dr. Reaven's research which has been going on well over 30 years. I'm sorry I don't have references handy right this minute, but check out his "Sydrome X" book which is a layman's version describing work--which is extensive. And btw, I have been following a modified food plan based on Raven's work since last Oct. and have lost well over 50 pounds. And I pig out probably 2 times a week on Xanthippe's good cooking, too. Atkins can't refute Reaven because he (Atkins) is dead, and I certainly don't argue with the fact that the popularity of his first book and the current re-tread at least gets people to pay attention to what they eat. Bottom line here is that this long-winded post is my way of saying I pretty much agree with Drinking Chef. There's a happy middle in all the diet snake oil hoopla; its called moderation. Oops, Xan. usually edits my writing but I wrote this solo. She'd probably go all prim ex-English teacher on me if she saw this post and all the grammar errors!

That would be the Amen corner. Xan's chorizo salmon hash is as adventurous as I get, but she likes kippers and other stuff we dont usually eat here in the USA. It's because she was in Scotland for a year at a university, she says. And she learned to drink single malts there as well, which I'm definatly okay with.

This thread isn't as intimidating as the dinner one, so here goes; toasted peanut and sweet corn salad and iced coffee.

Well thanks to y'all for the covered-dish vs potluck information. The use of different foodisms is an interesing topic. Xan's. mother and aunt also said "tea towels' rather than dishtowels. That was always kind of quaint to me.

Malawry, your the only person other than Xanthippe's mother and her mama's sister I ever heard refer to a "covered-dish" supper. They both were from Durham, NC. Is that strictly a North Carolinianism, or is the term used all over the south? Where I grew up (Oakland, CA), we called them potluck dinners. Good article. Xan. liked it too.

Please report in when yoiu finish the experiment. Xan's c.f. rocks my world like she does. She makes it all the time and she goes back & forth between using 1c. heavy cream with 1 T. buttermilk (I know she doesnt heat it at all, just puts it in a jar w/ the top part-way on and leaves on a high shelf for @36 hrs.). Next time she will use 1 T. of the c.f. as the starter instead of buttermilk. As I said, she varies this every other time.