GG Mora

How delightful that this year's spring holiday will comprise a three-day software training seminar in beautiful Birmingham! I had to add an extra night's stay to make the airfare affordable ($1599, or $799 if I stay an extra night? Hmmm.) Trouble is, all my mates will be leaving Saturday morning & I don't fly out until Sunday. That leaves me Saturday on my own to explore or whatever. I didn't suspect that Brum would be the place to hang, and then I found this on the Webtourist "Know-Before-You-Go" page for the Big B.: Well, then. Is there someplace charming and interesting within close reach of Birmingham where an American chick might wile away a May Day on her own & feel satisfied that she did something besides brood in her hotel room just waiting to fly home to hubby?

I hope I'm not too late to the party... What about Belgian endive filled with a shrimp/apple salad? Finely diced cooked shrimp, apple and onion, moistened with mayo & a splash of vodka, S&P to taste, sprig of dill on top (or minced dill in the salad)...

Yeah, that too. That seems to help with biscuits, as well. After I cut them and lay them out on the baking sheet, I let them sit for ten minutes. I discovered this quite by accident when I had to hold up breakfast production because my 17-yr-old stepdaughter couldn't be bothered getting out of bed. Oh, and Flapjack Willy? Welcome® to eGullet.

Bet yer mixing 'em too much. Every time I've had pancakes that sucked – that were too thin and rubbery – it was because someone just couldn't resist mixing until the batter was perfectly smooth. Go light. Leave it lumpy.

It might be a little on the cloying side, if you're using sweetened coffee syrup. I'd be tempted to try a big mug of hot milk with a shot of very strong espresso and a sizeable glob of DdL stirred in. But that does start to sound a little Starbucksy.

Piping. Oh, I can get nice consistent curliqueus and what-have-you. The problem is my hands. Hot hands. The icing in the bag quickly turns to something resembling mayonnaise. Ever try piping mayonnaise? And I used to have a small side-business making wedding cakes (I'll still do them for friends and family). I tried everything. I'd keep two bags going at once and swap them out, letting one rest in a cold water bath when off duty. All kinds of machinations. Last summer, I finally hit on a solution (at 3 in the morning before the wedding, having scraped off the piping for the second time). I slipped on a pair of Thinsulate-lined black leather gloves (normally reserved for driving on frigid winter days). Hah! It's a little fetishy, but it works.

Here at the Mora house, meatloaf is king. It's the single most requested dinner entrée (and must be accompanied by mashed potatoes and caramelized onions). So meatloaf sandwiches are common here, too. Our favorite spread is mild Ajvar – the eastern european condiment paste made of roasted eggplant, red pepper and garlic. I suspect it would be good with your Italian-leaning loaf. And we use a pain au levain-like farm bread for nearly everything – meatloaf sandwiches included.

Yeah, Levelland. It's a perfect "driving fast on a hot, dusty day with all the windows down" song. Gotta pick a nit, though. The lyric is actually "Flatter than a tabletop, Makes you wonder why they stopped here..." But it's an important point. A lesser writer would have stopped at "stopped"; adding "here" changes the whole rythmic emphasis of the line. My favorite JM lyric, though, is his twisting of the clichéd "There, but for the grace of God, go I." In "Down along the Delaware" he remarks after seeing an old acquaintance "bumming change on the uptown 6": "There by the grace of God I go." Now that's just fucking brilliant. Okay. Back to the food. Sorry for the digression.

I can only hope that Jackal will have the decency to post some photos of his herb setup after blowing us all out of the water with his account.... I have a perennial bed just out the kitchen door where I've planted herbs among the flowers; here and there I stand a lovely big pot on another, upturned, where I plant the crybabies and menaces. Adds nice structure to the garden. "Crybabies" (those that won't tolerate a VT winter): – 2 types of Rosemary (1 a "prostrate" that weeps beautifully down the sides of the pot) – Bay Laurel – Lemon Verbena "Menaces" (those that would choke out every other plant in the garden given a chance) – Peppermint – Spearmint In the ground: – More Lavender than you can shake a stick at – French Tarragon – Thyme: Lemon and Silveredge – Sage: Green, Tricolor and Purple – Lemon Balm (this is becoming a menace) – Oregano (I prevent this from becoming a menace by removing all signs of flowering before it can even think about going to seed – otherwise it would be everywhere – Chives Elsewhere... In pots on the deck: – Rau Ram – Rose Geranium – Lemon-Rose Geranium – Thai basil – Lemongrass In the vegetable garden: – Basil (and more basil) – Succession plantings of Cilantro This year I need to establish a parsley patch (flatleaf). I grew borage one year in my old garden (left behind when I married and moved) and never had to plant it again, if you know what I mean. I never ate any, but loved those pretty blue flowers in salads.

I seem to recall from the "Music in the Kichen" thread that you have a pretty encyclopedic range of musical tastes. Do you ever listen to stuff by McMurtry's son, James? It's damned near perfect, some of it. Yeah, the guy's pretty pissed off most of the time, but his lyrics are so well crafted and, man, can he play guitar. I'm diggin' your blog. I lived in Metairie when I was a kid and have yet to get back to LA, but your blog is giving me one more reason to plan a trip. I've seen a few Vs of geese headed back north here in Vermont, but we're still a long way from fresh tomatoes. Blog on.

Count me in for the picnic (plus husband). We're an hour and change away just east of Manchester, VT. Any Sunday works for us, as long as we have a week or two's notice to find places to stow the children. I'm bringing a dessert.

My 12-year-old stepdaughter pronounces it "flam-MAY lon-YON" with such aplomb that it nearly sounds correct. And a few weeks ago, her 10-year old sister was asking if they could have some of that "DOE-chay duh LOW-so". She had to show me the jar before I realized she meant dulce de leche. My favorite, though, comes from the sister of a childhood friend. That restaurant chain with the orange roof and turquoise accessories always came out of her mouth as "Ella FONT-saze".

I believe that's the British pronunciation.

If my trip to eastern Oklahoma and the Arkansas hills is any indicator, you can't even get a decent cup of coffee. Good on ya. Thank you for sharing.

Honestly, at first glance I thought that read "Tired of good food?". Which would be more to the point, I think.

We have the F!F!X5, procured through the Illy deal when it was only $125. Paying for the Illy coffee for 12 months wasn't much of a hardship, since both my husband and I happen to like Illy. And the machine, for its size and price, is a real winner. It gets heavy use every day and, after a year and a half, hasn't complained yet. It produces great crema, even with your own grind, and as you mentioned, good microfoam without a lot of antics. I would stress that it's totally possible to make excellent coffee even without using pods. Given our new-found financial status, we're having to scrimp and, so, use pre-ground Cafe Bustelo with reasonable results (I know we could do much better – beanwise – for the price, but a little complacency has set in, and grabbing the cute little red-and-yellow can from the IGA suits our over-burdened lifestyle).

Here in South Central VT the garlic is sprouting! Yippee! The raised beds are finally clear of snow as of yesterday, but still too firm for tilling. Time to get some seedlings started...

I went to school in New Bedford, MA, which could technically be considered a part of Rhode Island. Coffee milk was big there, too. I think it's a Portuguese influence kind of thing. Anyway, the local dairies actually produced coffee milk (from arabica cows, no doubt) and sold it in those little half-pint cartons. The dairy deliveryman to the restaurant where I worked would spot all of the staff a carton of coffee milk for on-the-spot quaffing. Ooo-eee.

Refrain: Peanut Butter and Tunafish.

I usually just go for Mr. Creosote's own delightfully turned phrase: "Fuck off. I'm full."

Ah. Your profile makes you look so severe, Jinmyo. You're much more approachable this way. In addition to my own wily head of hair, there's my husband's, plus a Big White Dog who sheds her wooly coat full-time and three cats who only respect the "stay off the kitchen counters" rule when someone's watching. Even if I wore a hair net or "sported a Jinmyo", hair-free cooking just isn't going to happen around here. We deal. Adds texture.

That was actually from their movie "The Meaning of Life". Never appeared on their TV show. Anyone remember an episode of Northern Exposure where Adam (chef extraordinaire) was preparing for a big shindig (Maurice's retirement or some such) and needed an entire cow to make his meat essence?

Everclear?

Nope. Breasts still moist and tender....utterly succulent thighs!

Cool. We get to watch FG get wasted in real time.