MaryIsobel

We are privy to an impromptu, dinner visit from our oh-so-busy daughter tonight. I made a big pot of chili today so to jazz the meal up a tad, I raided the crisper for an interesting salad. Blanched asparagus, so thin that blanching was probably the best way to go, along with diced, cooked beets and some cherry tomatoes. Made a greek yogurt, grainy mustard dressing. Nothing spectacular, but it looked pretty, so I took a picture. The chili looks like chili.

I can taste this in my mind and I know it would be fabulous! (And after 35 years of togetherness, when I tell my husband that I can taste something in my mind, he can't fathom what I'm talking about! - same as when I say that I can visualize a room painted in a certain colour. I have chalked it up to the right brain/left brain thing.)

The gumbo has been made and consumed. For some reason, it was the best gumbo that I have ever made. Perfect consistency, crazy depth of flavour, the only thing that I did differently was to make the roux ahead of time. It was refrigerated for 5 days before the day of cooking. Maybe it was the company, maybe it was atmospheric, but it was wonderful, so will probably make the roux ahead of time from now on. Certainly lessened the length of time required to make gumbo.

Attended a friend's home for dinner one evening and upon entering the acrid smell of burnt garlic assualted me. The main dish served was the culprit and while I tried valiantly to finish my serving, everyone else was raving about how "good and garlicky" it was. This was the same home where another time, we were informed upon arriving that "Rick" was making his famous shrimp and scallop appetizer for us. We stood about the kitchen, having a glass of wine, watching him sautee shrimp and scallops in butter for about 10! minutes, add wine, put the lid on and announce - "there, we'll just give that about 1/2 an hour..." They are truly lovely people, but good cooks they ain't.

I get serious potato envy every time I see one of your fabulous baked potatoes but having experienced the incredible mess that an exploded potato can make, I am too fearful not to stab them before baking.

285 ml is the standard size that I buy several times a year. Always L&P

I think any bitterness in cucumbers comes from the skin. 75% of the year, I buy English/Hothouse cucumbers and we eat them skin and all. When we are priviledged to have garden cukes, sometimes the peel is bitter, so that is the only time I peel cucumbers.

At least 50% of our Caesars are "virgin." They are such a flavouful cocktail, that I honestly have a hard time discerning between virgin and the real thing.

I'm surprised that "wooster" sauce last so long for so many. I'm sure that we go through 3 or 4 bottles a year. It's a must in our Caesars, and I use it in soups, stews and anywhere I am looking for a boost of savoury flavour.

I'd love your recipe. I am just about to make passion fruit curd with frozen passion fruit puree. I wonder if your method would work with passion fruit?

I'm sorry - reading too fast I guess.

Yes, everything in my childhood was cooked to death! My Dad liked all meat well done, and all veg were grossly overdone. My Mom had taught Home Economics, so I suspect she knew better but catered to my Dad. I was probably the only child I knew who had never had a casserole, as Dad didn't like "things all cooked together." We were very much a meat, starch and 2 veg family.

I understand what it is supposed to do. I just don't understand how rubbing one end of the cucumber would draw bitterness out of the whole thing.

One thing that I don't do, and my mother never did, is to cut a small end off a cucumber and rub it on the other cut end to supposedly "draw the bitterness out." My best friends mom always did it, but I have never seen how it could be effective. I still use a doube boiler for a lot of things that could be done carefully over low heat or in the microwave (like lemon curd) because my Mom always did.

My thoughts exactly. I have found that for our tastes, I like to go somewhere in between "peanut butter" and "milk chocolate" for gumbo roux. Takes time and no distractions! I have done the oven roux and it's fine, I just prefer that hands on, stovetop approach.

Thanks Weino. There are certainly lots of sources on the net that say so, but some even say to leave it on the counter for a week or two so nice to hear an opinion from someone who actually knows.

According to several sources on the internet, it can be done. Mine would be a fairly dark roux (for gumbo.) I will be making the gumbo at my sister's house and there will be two other people cooking at the same time, all making different components of the meal. I thought it would free up the kitchen considerably if the roux could be made ahead of time. I will be leaving on a Tuesday, it is about a 5 hour drive and the meal will be served on the following Thursday. Just wondered if anyone had done this (or kept it in the fridge for about 3 days) with satisfactory results?

Thank you. I will have to try this! Maybe I'll do the chicken with 40 cloves of garlic soon.

Thanks for the reminder. When I was a kid and we raised beef, we had lots of ground beef. This was a family favourite but I haven't made it in years.

Lovely menu and such a sweet back story. You are allowed to have dead eyes when you have a baby in the house!

On the odd occaision that my Dad was in charge of dinner for us kids, it was inevitably canned meatballs; dog food comes to mind... It's funny, he is in long term care now and complains endlessly about the food. I remind him that he used to eat canned meatballs, oh, and canned "corned beef!" Again, better suited to canines in my opinion, except for the extremely high sodium content.

The first time my husband saw blackened halibut on a menu, he asked the waiter what that was. The waiter stammered "uh, they just kind of burn the spices on there." Hopefully he came up with a better explanation eventually. Someone at the table next to us overheard and when the waiter left, they explained that blackened is no more burnt than a well seared steak is, so my husband ordered it and it remains one of his favourite treatments for halibut.

I need this exact dinner!

As much as I hate the expression, OMG, OMG! I would devour every single thing (except the uni - long story, I think my first taste was bad.) Although we live in the sticks and our dining choices are shall I say, severly limited, we are an hour drive away from downtown Vancouver where I'm sure we could find something somewahat equal to your dinner, but the traffic, the parking... We do have tickets for a concert downtown in early March, so looking forward to having something other than the pub "special."

You lost me at Cream of Wheat. One of my worst childhood memories was an overnight at the home of a friend. They were a no nonsense - "clean your plate" kind of family. A bowl of Cream of Wheat was breakfast. Fortunately they were dairy farmers, so with copious amounts of milk, I managed to finish my bowl, but never again! Polenta that has been cooked and chilled and then sauteed might be a good introduction for me. I am a pretty adventurous eater and hate to cross anything off my list.