klc14

OK, I will be proud of my Sardines! Hmm.. Sardines on Saltines--I'll try that too. (The broiling tip actually comes from Arthur Schwartz, What to Cook (When You Think There's Nothing in the House to Eat). You have to admit that canned sardines define "strong fishy odor" or maybe it's just the brand I've got....I'll have to look into the fresh sardine angle too. But this morning I reread the JIF label--WHERE were my glasses last time! Still, "studies have shown" peanut butter does not have the bad effect of other transfatty acid bearing foods (Prevention Mag, following up on a peanut producer study). So I will enjoy my pb for better or worse. It's comfort protein! And good with chocolate!

Let's see.....I also have Jif. Crunchy. (I read the label the other day and thought and it just said peanuts and salt--I will check that again. BUT...I have a 99% empty jar in kitchen and 3 more Costco sized jars in pantry...) Canned ready to heat soup ready to grab a can on the way out the door for lunch at work. And canned pork n beans....(Bush's not Campbell's, the only possible mitigating factor) Flavored yogurt in fridge (but it's organic!!!) Slightly off greens-me too. I stew them with oil and garlic, or possibly bacon. I stashed my "soft drink"/"soda pop" hoard in BR, so it's exempt from this inquiry, right? Hallmark storage jar with saccharine cartoon bears--but it keeps the flaxseed fresh! Oh, yeah--SARDINES! well, they have lots of Omega 3 and if you use ENOUGH DIJON MUSTARD (French's brand of course, and I have their Ballpark too!) and put crumbs on top and broil, it's a good snack. protein, all that..... Rationalize, rationalize, rationalize........

Ah, comfort food of my young adulthood! ONLY ONE???? Back when I treated myself to 2 candy bars after lunch every day (20's) I would go in cycles: Clark Bar. Then Oh Henry. Then Peanut M&M. Then Mounds. Then Almond Joy. Then Snickers. Then Whatchamacallit (hershey thing, peanut crumble in chocolate). Then Hershey chocolate, then hershey almond......Making up for that sense of childhood deprivation (I wasn't really deprived, my parents just wanted me to have TEETH when I grew up!) Nowadays I can really taste how much vanilla there is in American chocolate and I don't like it as much. (thankfuilly, because of that dratted metabolism slowdown that hits about age 30 and ramps uip every year....) And who could forget World's Finest Chocolate--the band candy we all loved to scarf! I remember when it was $1.00 a bar..... For a while I ate Harvest Gold Balance Bars, "sort of" like a Snickers but with more protein. Then I admitted to myself, "it's candy, get over it, it's all candy!!!!"

My cooking track: Reading cookbooks, learning to bake bread I agree, your background and home have a lot to do with how you turn out as a cook. In junior high school, read my way through varied cookbooks of my mother's; spent one summer playing in the kitchen, using the "Success with Eggs and Cheese" chapter in Helen Worth's Cooking Without Recipes (the cheapest chapter). Crepes, omelets, meringues, custards. I made a rule that I had to eat all of whatever I cooked--an incentive to do it right! Gee, I could cook! I cruised through the cookbook section of the local libraries, read the local paper's food section, picked up remaindered cookbooks. I tried to make bread (it didn't rise much but tasted fine). Then I moved to just south of Washington DC. Came upon the Washington Post food section--a whole new world of food reading. While I lived alone, on Saturdays I cooked recreationally again. Tried bread again -- it tasted...well, it was great toasted. You didn't notice the particleboard-like crust so much. Cooking with roommates from more sophisticated backgrounds, making new stuff: things from Julia Child, using fresh herbs and spices. More, better books on food. Practiced breadmaking: learned to make a loaf with a decent crust. Stopped collecting recipes from magazines and newspapers that I never cooked. Started collecting recipes online, cooked a few. Made a rule to toss books I hadn't used or recipes I hadn't cooked after a year. Gave up breadmaking due to low carb dieting. Found eGullet.com, lurked for a while. Tried the stock course, saving up stock cubes in the freezer. Hmmmm.... I bin missin' out! And I think eGCI is having a bread class: I may be trying again! There's always exercise....

I know what you mean. I cut my wrist on one of those rolls the other day. oh, yes, the plastic wrap "razor" fingertip trap. Quick, sharp, PAIN. No blood drawn yet. but I have half of a 50-yard box to go. So I will never put the plastic wrap, with its convenient sharp-sharp strip always out in the open and ready to cut, in the drawer so that the cutting edge is away from the side wall of the drawer, instead of right in the middle, shiny and pointing up. At my questing fingers. That way, I won't open the drawer and while reaching to grab the foil next to it, put my fingertips right down on the lovely tiny sharp teeth. Three times in a row. Firmly. Till the pain reflex kicked in. Part of it is the box design: no closing flap, the cutter is always in position to tear the plastic which is lying across it. The foil box has a flap to close over its cutting edge. I failed to adjust to the environment. Thoughtless, thoughtless! I was thinking about what I was gonna wrap up, didn't see me coming!

Forgot to mention, I am using a 3qt pot, wound up with 1 qt stock (minus spillage ) from 450 g chicken and turkey bones with some meat on, 260g chopped onion and 140 g chopped celery, 140 g. chopped carrot. Also a bay leaf, 2 peppercorns, 3 parsley stalks. I opted for the 12-hour, stovetop, uncovered, 180-190 degree simmer. In the morning, food was still 99% covered by stock in the pot. Defatted in fridge (I had gone this far in my youth, with Helen Worth's Cooking without Recipes ). It is now in the fridge, beautifully congealed in a 4-cup measuring cup, waiting for me to reduce it tonight. Carrot predominates, hint of celery and chicken in the background. Next time, more meat. More pepper? A bigger bay leaf! As one cooking mostly for one, I can testify, it is entirely possible and worthwhile to do this class on a small scale. (MUCH easier to lift the pot! )

Fat Guy (in lesson): About discarding the fat down the drain..... I've been told not to pour fat down the drain because SOME DAY you may wind up with a plumbing bill. Even if you run hot water down, it will coat the pipe for a distance and at some point the pipe gets cold, chills the fat. Fat starts collecting stuff that goes by, over time.... 'nuff said. Living in an older buildings or apartment/condo buildings I think it might be a bigger problem... I usually just seal up the liquid fat I'm not keeping in a can or plastic container and throw in trash. Not to be elitist or snarky or anything, just wanted to bring up the point. slkinsey: I've never tried this, but the suggestions are so interesting I want to try it. (Costco just had their 4 for 2 whole chicken sale, so I've got plenty to work with!)

Like: roasting chicken or turkey, garlic, peanut butter, chocolate. Pumpkin pie, cinnamon. dislike: cooked calf's liver, burned carbohydrate (burned popcorn, burned toast, etc.) , after-odor in the microwave after doing the popcorn (which smells bad too). Fish. (May I just add, certain cat food flavors REEK too . The smellier the food, the more cats seem to go for it, though).

well, okay. nissin cup of soup (chicken) embellished with: peanut butter (about 2Tspoons) (supposed to be good for heart) garlic clove, cut up (supposed to be good for circulation) thyme (dried) (supposed to be antibacterial) tabasco (about 1 teaspoon) (for sinus) celery seed (supposed to help regulate blood sugar) OR lotsa fatty trans acids with a dollop of nutriceuticals to combat guilt. If I had time I would have cooked! Real food!

Meyer Meyer (double barreled) was in 87th precinct (bald by 40 due to stress), by Ed McBain. Meyer (one name only) was Travis McGee's friend in John D. MacDonald's series. I don't think his first name or last name was ever given.

11 or 12, counting from memory. Down from 20, when I moved. Ran out of bookcase space. Had to lose weight. Reading about food made me want to EAT! I used to live with housemates and together we had about 50 in the the kitchen, 10 or so others scattered throughout the house. I weed them out in a few years if I don't cook ANYTHING from them, except for the historical/instructional ones. Those can be fun. I also use library books a LOT. Let THEM manage the shelf space!

This seems to be turning into the Bamix thread...I will just add that the woman who does cooking chats for the Washington Post online has one and uses it all the time. I don't remember which brand she said she had... I've used one (Braun) that a friend had...when using it in the the pot the suction created when I got near the bottom of the pot was quite strong. Had to turn it off to pull it out of the soup. But it does work very nicely for pureeing soups. I just haven't bought one because I JUST bought a glass-jarred one. One toy at a time, one toy at a time! There's one advertised on infomercials on US cable channels---was it called Thunderstick or some (possibly odder than they know) thing like that. It's about $60, looks comparable to the Braun. I might, MIGHT order that someday. If it's 3 AM, I'm bored, can't sleep, my credit card is too available