PopsicleToze

I read Julie/Julia after first learning about the site through E-Gullet, but I didn't know all of these places existed. Thanks for posting them -- looks like some pretty interesting reading. Now how to figure out how to get paid for this

Thanks for the info!

Interesting. I always thought chickory was originally used to stretch the coffee. There wasn't a lot of money, and people would add the chickory to the coffee to make it last longer. Cajuns/Creoles weren't the only ones to do this. In a lot of the Western books chickory is mentioned often on the cattle drives. Seems that most folks didn't care for it, and when they could do away with it, they would. Louisiana just doesn't do away with things -- we hold onto them to remember and honor the past. I drink Community -- the Special Cafe Blend is good, but most often I buy the Dark Roast, while at the office we drink Community New Orleans Blend (chickory). In an article in a local magazine, Union Coffee was favored by the marjority of New Orleans coffee drinkers, reportedly, for the best coffee/chickory blend. It stated that Community used a medium roast in its chickory blend, while Union was strong and dark. I've never had Union, but I'm going to pick up a pkg next time I'm out grocery shopping. However, I foresee a cold day in Hades before I give up Community Coffee Rhonda ----------- Edited because I didn't proofread

Sounds terrific! You must have some good grocery stores if you can find frog legs but no head-on shrimp

That's not cooking. That's a college man without a girlfriend

I live alone, but when I cook, it's usually for lots of people. So, when I'm cooking just for me, omelettes are one of my favorite things to make. You can take just about anything in the refrigerator and make a creative filling to match your mood. Open the refrigeraor and have a peek. Saute some onions, grate some cheese, and you're just about there. Make a simple salad; pour yourself a glass of wine, and dinner. Voila. Omelettes feel very special when you're eating them, but they're simple as pie to make (well, actually, pies are hard for me, but omelettes are easy), and there's not many dishes to clean. Rhonda

Jacob's is my favorite for andouille. Some of the meat has a strange texture, but the smoked taste is outstanding. They come in about 12" long sausages. I always get extra to freeze, wrap in plastic wrap, and then wrap in foil. It's hard not to laugh when you grab one out of the freezer

IMHO, kielbasa in something dry (like jambalaya) is actually preferred over andouille, because andouille is dry itself and kielbasa adds to the moistness. However, the question was for gumbo -- andouille doesn't have a lot of fat at all, and you don't want to add any sausage greasy and with overpowering flavors. What I would substitute for it in gumbo is smoked ham cubes. Rhonda P.S. Agreed on the tasso as stated above, but my bet is that if you can't get andouille, you can't get tasso.

Markus, thank you so very much. I'm planning to go out at lunch and get some, but I know the markets here and I'll be sure to call first to see if they have it. Again, thank you. You've started out my day perfectly! Rhonda

I hope you'll help me out. SO's favorite rum is Zaya (I'm pretty sure, but it might be with a "g"). It's around $40. I've tried other rums in this range, and he didn't like them as much. The problem is that Zaya is sold out a lot. Are there rums similar to it in terms of quality and taste? That is even though I don't know anything about rum, I'm sure it has different qualities. Something similar, please... Thanks!

Agreed I'm sure the cheese with maggots would be on the menu, as well as freshly beheaded snakes! Oh, wait... I've heard some of you like that

Brilliant! Nice job, Swiss

I don't work in the industry anymore but am currently in Sales & Marketing. One or more of these terms would probably apply to me on a daily basis

Baking soda is sometimes called bicarbonate of soda. Maybe BB = Baker's Bicarbonate. Just a guess.

Mine is baking -- even brown-n-serve rols are served burnt (by accident, but by accident EVERYTIME)

Grilling was really fashionable. You can serve your dishes in Tupperware Definitely the Jell-o, and I liked someone's earlier suggestion about serving individual plates in the tin-TV-dinner compartment things. Swanson still makes them. Tang, but that was the 60's I think

You both sound like excellent parents!

White -- just don't care for red

We still have Sunday dinner, but the difference is I'm the one that cooks it. Let me tell you -- it DOES have an impact on the younger generation. My niece at either 8 or 9 years old had to write a paper on "Favorite Things." Her favorite things were "going to church on Sunday and coming home to eat whatever NaNa (me) cooked for dinner (they call lunch 'dinner' in the South) with the entire family. We all sit at the table, and there are lots of stories told, past and present, with the younger generation sitting on our laps, asking questions, laughing, etc. -- making new memories. I wouldn't miss it for anything. Rhonda

Mayhaw Man, I live here, and I'm jealous -- in a good way Your food blog is fantastic, and you have one lucky family. Can't wait to keep reading all week. Thanks for being such a good representative of our state. Rhonda

Take a look at the website and you'll see why it was picked-up. On the fan site, she has THOUSANDS of hits/posts, and poor Sara Moulton (who CAN cook, by the way) has maybe 300. The people on that site who post, and they post mostly negative comments, should learn to just ignore the woman, and then she might go away. I can't stand her. She's done as much for real cooking as Hamburger Helper! Rhonda

Scrambled eggs, toast with butter & jelly, and bacon &/or sausage. Freshly squeezed orange juice and coffee. On vacation, it's a bagel with smoked salmon, capers, onions and a mimosa.

I buy green peanuts at a little farmers market in Hammond called Cream of the Crop for $0.99/pound and boil them myself -- for about 4 hours Does anyone know the season to find them? I found some earlier this year, but the market has recently began boiling them and selling them boiled -- fresh by the cupful or frozen in 5# bags (for $10.99). Since they started this, they no longer sell the green peanuts to take home and boil yourself. Is this just a marketing strategy to make more profit, or is the season already gone & there are no more fresh green peanuts? Thanks for any information... Rhonda

I never did "get" The Galloping Gourmet. He was silly and not very interesting. I've tried to watch a few of his healthy cooking shows, but I just can't.

Fond memories of Kentucky Fried Chicken when I was growing up in the early 1970's, but that was when he was alive and monitored the stores. Sometimes I still want it, but I always get sick after eating and swear to never eat it again. Popeye's is okay. A bit thick on the crust and thin on the meat in my opinion. Church's is horrible, at least here. Homemade is the best, and, yes, it's worth the mess -- at times.