chezcherie

i bow deeply in maggiethecat's direction. THANK YOU (yeah, i'm shouting) for starting this thread, just when i needed some inspiration. i see a lot of recipe testing with pre-loaded payoffs in my weekend future!

i am really trying to institute a "byo" habit. i have found that if i put the bags in the back of my car, more than half the time, i forget them. now that i put them on the passenger floorboards, in my plain view, it's harder to forget them. my trader joe's (where i do a lot of my shopping) has a nice colorful sign over the shopping cart area, reminding me (and, i suppose, others...but i like to think it's there as my personal memory-jogger) to bring them. but the thing that has helped me most is this: if i forget them, and i remember while in line, i make myself get out of line (no "will you save my spot?") and go get 'em out of the car....this little self-imposed penance is paying off, because i'm getting much better at remembering them now. one other trick is that i pick up one or two pretty ones when i travel...they are useful for wrapping stuff to take home, and as laundry bags during a trip, and then, once home, they remind me fondly of my travels...i have quite the eclectic assortment of bags, and hope to add a new orleans one soon, when i go to iacp.

the "flavor shaker" has a heavy ceramic ball that fits inside the plastic housing. i saw one, but didn't buy it. that was before this show started airing. now i wish i had, if only in homage to jamie....a mortar and pestle will do the same thing, but i am so enjoying the episodes that i want to be "just like him"...

i wonder how they would respond to the butter-soy treatment discussed on another thread? i think i saw these at my costco last week...might have to try it!

i wish this study would GO AWAY, or be disproven, because i really dislike it when the waitstaff touches me. and i definitely tip accordingly. please dodescribe the specials intelligently. please do bring my food in a timely manner. please do top up my wine. please don't touch me.

my goddess cleaning lady requested that i buy this: greased lightning when i took over a less-than-spotless kitchen. wow. i used it the other day, without gloves. the bottle says use gloves for sensitive skin, and i don't think of myself as having that...i am growing back my fingerprints, after most of the skin peeled off my hands! so, do use gloves, but the stuff is amazing. smart and final carries it, and apparently sam's club, as well.

on the "what's new" shelf this week--jo-jo's enrobed in dark chocolate. get behind me, satan!

i have been there, and would go again. it is pretty small, and the clerks seemed quite and shy when we first entered the store. but once they saw the three of us ooohing and ahhhing over some chorizos and cheeses, they began to offer us tastes of lots of different things. i don't go there a lot, but if you are combining the trip with someplace else (say, Penzey's in Torrance, which is no more than 10 minutes away), i'd say check it out. i have heard that they make a killer paella, but don't know if that's a special occasion event--there was no cooking happening when we were there.

jamie oliver has an italian book---if i recall correctly, the title is jamie in italy...his stuff is quite approachable, and i think that book might be just the thing for your son. (from another mom of cooks.)

if you froze it, quenelled it, then refrigerated it, might it hold? i feel like it might...

knife skills class at the cooking school always leaves us with loads of sliced veg to use creatively. i have about 6 lb of student-chopped onions caramelizing in the crock pot right now--the day i learned that this would work changed my life! (i finish them in a sautepan, as a lot of liquid remains, but the ease of cooking a large amount of onions, largely untended, is a boon.) in summer session, i like to use the sliced bells (red, yellow and orange) to make a great pepper relish, but i'm looking for something i haven't thought of, that's maybe more seasonal? i know i can stir-fry 'em, or use them in pasta, but i'm looking for something...i dunno.. different. i know there are good ideas out there. give 'em up! thanks--

a little coconut milk might be subtle, and taste great, without giving the visual cue that makes people think "coconut"...?

don't save your oyster binge for swan. binge twice. once at hog island, and once at swan. word. (and don't forget, as the lovely gentleman next to me on my last visit did, that swan is cash only.)

So, after 4 Valentine's classes, and 40 happy couples, we have a lot of trim left over from some nice tenderloins (which we wrapped, along with caramelized onions, in puff, and served with a dried cherry-port sauce). I know I can stir-fry it, but I'm looking for something else to do to use it up. Since the meat is so tender, braising seems unnecessary, and not the best use. All ideas happily considered. Thanks!

so, the hostess couldn"t count to three? apparently, since she seated you, and knew it was a party of four....yowza. and then she scolded you? wowza.

try putting the jar in a pan of hot water for a bit, like you might with honey that's crystallized. i think that will work.

ah...didn't notice that is an old thread, revived. i, too, have been seduced by these, at restaurant supply stores and surfas...so far, i have resisted, but they are gorgeous...do i really want to eat panini every day for the rest of my life in order to justify the purchase? maybe...

the link doesn't work for me...boo! i want to see the panini toaster that piqued andisenji's interest. (the link goes to napastyle, but no item shows, even with a search for panini...)

oh, my goodness, yes--judy (aka divina) is a tremendous resource. she was a great help and very generous with her time when we recently put together a food tour of tuscany. while we didn't get a chance to take her market tour on this trip, i'd definitely work that in next time. she's a dynamo! (i thought the op was looking for a written guide.)

why, yes.

i saw a martha stewart ham at costco at christmas...didn't try it, don't know what makes it particularly "martha" other than the brand. i would LOVE to find some duck confit at my costco!

ya beat me to it...and they are great (or should that be "grate"...sorry!!) i sell the food ones in my cooking school, but when i got a promo piece on the foot ones, i could not resist. they are amazing....and horrifying, at the same time. but never the twain shall meet...one stays home, one goes to the school. i'm glad they came up with a completely different design. otherwise, everytime i grated the zest off a lemon, i'd be thinking about...ewww!

financiers are the first thing to occur to me, as their shape is said to mimic gold bars...i've seen silicone pans for them in sur la table and other cookware stores, and i'm pretty sure dorie greenspan's great baking book has a recipe. if not, her "paris sweets" would. you might even wrap them in gold foil to make them look more "gold brick"ish..and charge more!

i'm also in so ca, and in my market it's 9:30 am saturdays. tivo is set, as the first episode i saw was intriguing.

got the cold from hell, so i've spent some couch time this weekend. i have been away from food tv for a while, so these may all be old annoyances, but (1) i watched tyler florence season and liberally oil some red bell peppers that he then proceeded to roast and peel, thereby removing all the seasoning he'd applied.... (2) just now watched bobby flay serve peel and eat shrimp with a nice garlicy, oily, sauce to his poker buddies....the show was about poker food, and they were not taking a break, but actively engaged in the game. i guess it's good those cards are plastic coated, huh? still, from the look of those shrimp (looked delicious, don't get me wrong...), the players were in danger of having their royal flushes fly right out of their hands! (3) on the plus side, i saw my first episode of the new jamie oliver show, which i think i'll tivo. most of the mtv camera shots are gone, so i don't have to have a dramamine apertif, and the show felt informative, fresh and watchable.