PopsicleToze

If you buy one of the 10-lb pkgs of chicken quarters (whole chicken legs), they come with a portion of the back (great for stock) and PLENTY of fat for schmaltz. I rinse the fat and start cooking with just a little bit of water in the bottom of the pot to start the rendering process. Add chopped onion, and just let it simmer away and do its thing until the fat has rendered.

Were you "Cook"?

I've had a lot of luck finding things from Ballard Designs (Click Here) Congratulations on your new condo! Happy decorating Rhonda

I've never put coffee in my RB&R, but I always do for baked beans. Hmmmm... I'm thinking... it couldn't hurt anything and it might make it better. I'm up for trying it.

Pam, I'm really enjoying your blog. Your menu is fantastic, and I wish I could eat some of that brisket.

It looks fantastic, but your food always does!

Whoa! I wasn't making any suggestions at all, nor was I advocating home-schooling OR private schools, and you are way off base thinking I live in a different world. However, if you want a suggestion, and if I lived in Chicago and was as outraged and emotional about the situation as some appear to be, then my suggestion would be to march right down to that school and have a little chat with the powers that be. That being said, I don't disagree with the policy.

And the other difference is that the government is not ordering you to send your child to school at Harvard. The government does not order anyone to send their children to public school. A parent may opt for home-school or private schools. I know private schools have limits on lunches brought from home, but they're not banned. Still, that policy is their option and they have the option to change that so that brown bag lunches are banned. Why shouldn't the public school have the same option?

I don't know about that. If everyone opted out of the lunch program, then there would be no money and virtually no way to ever improve the program.

Anyone who drinks it will forget about its pinkness. It's definitely not a girly girl drink... Great blog; I am enjoying it immensely.

Ooh --- I want some, please! Ann, that looks stunning, and it reminds me that the larb thread needs reviving.

Nice synopsis!

Years ago I could find frozen garlic in little frozen cube container similar to this one: click here I haven't seen them in years (and Chef John Folse, please forgive me if I'm wrong), but I believe it was in a green colored container and the product was his. They were great. Pricey if compared to whole garlic, but very, very convenient and very good. I can find the peeled garlic in 8- and 16-ounce containers at the vegetable market, and I'll get those if I'm having something that calls for a LOT of garlic. I still cut the little tough off the bottom end, though.

You said it was clearly disclosed on the coupon. Seems like you could have just pointed out the exact verbiage on the coupon to any reasonable customer, and that would have been the end of the issue. That being said, arguing with an enraged customer in what I presume was the restaurant with other customers listening, maybe wasn't the best judgement call, either. 15 minutes is an *extreme* amount of time for a disruption in your restaurant with a lot of ears hearing every word. Plus, the distaste that disagreement left in his mouth will last longer to him than no matter how great your food may have tasted. Maybe next time, you could say something along the lines (because he did say that he loved your food and the service), "Sir, I am very pleased you enjoyed the food and service, and since you did not understand the gratuity policy, we will be glad to waive the gratuity policy for you in this instance. We hope to have you back..." Then, the ball would have been right back in his court to be the bigger person. I'll betcha he would have still tipped the 20% he said he would have initially.

Dcarch, those roasted marrow bones look fantastic, and I love the presentation with everything standing. Reminds me of stumps in the forest!

My feeling is that neither dessert was a tie. Padma & co liked Mike's and Tom & co likes Richards. So it was a tie. Then Mike lost the first two course and won the third. Richard won the first two and the title. I also think Richard prepared something more interesting than just food done really really well. I'm glad Richard won. However, Mike was quite the contender, and I don't think his bravado stemmed from arrogance. I think it stemmed from a sincere love of the food and wanting to cook things great (and wanting to provide for his family). I loved both of them. Carla, yeah, I liked her, too, but I think she was her own worst enemy. It's great to be humble, but never be so humble that you don't believe in yourself, and (at least for me) that was her great fault.

Is that meat in the baked beans? I always wonder about that. Seems to defeat the point of the fish on Friday. One of the Lutheran churches in my town does that, but we joke that it's just to keep the Catholics from overrunning them! Yes, that's ground beef in the baked beans. It's okay, though -- we're Baptists! Mom started cooking her baked beans like this way back when. Here is the recipe: 1/2 lb bacon 1 cup finely chopped celery 3 cups finely chopped onion 2 pounds ground chuck 2 cloves garlic, minced 2 cans Bush's Best baked beans 1 cup catsup 3 tablespoons Dijon mustard 1 can consomme salt and pepper to taste Fry bacon in large cast iron skillet. In drippings saute celery and onion. Drain excess grease. Cook ground beef with garlic until meat is brown. Drain well. Combine beans, consomme, the onion/celery mixture and ground meat with catsup and mustard. Salt and pepper to taste. Add crumbled bacon. Bake 1 hour at 375 deg F.

The local Catholic churches always have fish frys around this time of year. Fried catfish is usually what is served with sides of cole slaw, potato salad and baked beans. Here is a photo from a fish fry we had last year.

Sandwiches! He had a pork sandwich that was really good, and those are Zapp's potato chips on the plate. I had a ham and cheese sandwich, and it was so good! It was served on a perfect baguette. A little potato salad would have been nice, but it was a great lunch.

Question... I'm finding 2 schools of thought on the eggs. Do you boil them so that they are cooked completely like you would for any other boiled egg, or do you just boil them enough for the white to set so that the yolk isn't completely cooked? Thanks!

I was hacking chicken legs and accidently hacked my thumb. I'm a lot more careful now!

I am so glad you revived this thread. It's one of my favorite threads on this entire board! Scotch eggs, huh. Never had them, but I've thought about making them many times. My forefathers do go back to Scotland (Graham Clan), so now I guess I *have* to make these. Yours look really good. I'll let you know how mine come out. Cheers!

Thanks for all of the comments and such nice things that were said!!! They're going to shut down this blog this afternoon to comments because it's time to go onward to next week's blog. I'm out the door to lunch a little more late than fashionably late, and I'm pretty sure by the time I get back, comments will be closed. This has been soooooooo much fun, and I hope if you do drop by the area that you will give me a call! Signing off!

Thanks, and that's okay about the crawfish, lol. Just come on down, and we'll convert you to the dark side...

P.S. Lisa, the blog is over (they only last a week here), but before I go I just had to snap one last picture. Do you remember these? The spice blend is from Chicago in 2004, and the spoon (wasn't it made out of olive wood?) was a present from New Orleans in 2005. The spice blend's magic aroma has long since faded, but this STILL has a place in my spice cabinet. (OMG - spice cabinets... that was on my list, and I completely forgot, LOL. Oh, well, maybe in another lifetime, lol!) Then the spoon. It stays out in a crock on the counter, so I see it all of the time! What treasures these are, and you thought I forgot you?!? No way, Jose!