bloviatrix

Including the cookbooks, reference books, general writing on food, etc I'm at 155. My husband keeps putting me on notice -- I have to sneak books into the house.

i'm sure they'd like to do that. however, that would mean even more reruns, as well as a lot more sales of advertising, which isn't always the easiest thing to make happen. Why not just turn it into All-Emeril tv?

Although I'm happy with a plain chip, I favor yogurt and dill and salt and pepper. I must admit, I've been on a potato chip kick lately.

In regard to Tupperware, I've been invited to 2 parties in the past 9 months. Apparently, it's one of those "hot" things to do. The NYTimes had an article about it several months ago.

What a great article. A suggestion for those looking to label items: masking tape and marker. I keep a roll in my junk drawer. Whenever I'm getting ready to freeze something, I tear off a piece of tape and stick it on the container. Then I write the contents and date. Once the container is done, pull off the tape, wash and it's ready to reuse. I also had to laugh about the mouse problem. We had a furry visitor last year who liked basmati rice, chickpea flour, and mung beans. I think he was an Indian mouse.

Tonight it's: Curried Pan-fried Talapia w/Mango Chutney Coconut Rice Maybe some melon for dessert Sounds great. Would you share the recipe? I'm always looking for more chickpea uses.

except for the corn salad that sounds incredibly like the dinner I have half prepared at the moment. Is the tomato tart by chance from the Italian Vegetarian by Jack Bishop? I have that dough chilling at this very moment. My potato salad has an arugula mayo instead of basil...... creepy You're right on the source of the Tomato Tart. I love that recipe. As does everyone who eats it. -- we rarely have leftovers

You might want to look at The Art of Indian Vegetarian Cooking by Yemuna Devi. My copy is an English edition. I'm not sure if it released in the states, but it's available at Jessica's Biscuit. It has vegetarian recipes from all the regions. Suvir, you're right. I don't miss meat when I eat Indian. A meal leaves me full and happily satisfied.

The first time I had Indian food was in the '70s as a kid. We went to an Indian place in Curry Hill for my mom's birthday. I remember thinking it was interesting, but didn't make much impact on me. I didn't eat Indian again until the early 90s when one of my friends was dating an Indian guy. One night we went to this little, divey place in Little India and he ordered us this amazing meal. It was one of those experiences where my tastebuds just came alive. I loved the interplay of flavors and the heat. Since then I've been addicted. Because I keep kosher, the menu I stick with is vegetarian. But I never miss the meat when I eat because the food is so well flavored. Fortunately, living in NYC I have lots of options of places to dine. I like Pongol a lot. For lunch, I'll go to Dosa Hut which has a great lunch special. I'm also lucky to have a husband who loves Indian food which means I have someone to eat with - most of our friends hate spicy food and react with horror when we suggest dining out. I have a collection of Indian cookbooks at home - Yemuna Devi's Art of Indian Vegetarian Cooking, a couple by Mahdur Jaffrey, and several others. I'll make curries on occasion. I have a bag of chickpea flour in my pantry waiting to be used. Hmm, now I may have to go out for dinner tonight.

A little alcohol will help your sorbet from getting to hard. Vodka works well. Currently, I have a blackberry sorbet with red wine sitting in my freezer that has a nice, soft consistency.

A dill pickle.

Union Square Greenmarket, NYC.... Last week: basil and beets Yesterday: strawberries

Perez-Reverte is one of my favorite writers. I always get excited when I hear of someone else reading him. What ever you do, stay away from the movie The Ninth Gate which is based on The Club Dumas. They butchered an excellent novel.

Over the weekend, I hosted a birthday meal for one of my friends, so I made some of her favorite foods. The menu: White Gazpacho Poached Salmon Tomato Tart with Basil-Garlic Crust Corn Salad New Potato Salad w/Basil Mayonnaise Ricotta Custard Blackberry Sorbet One of our guests was a 20 month old. You should have seen her devour the tart. She grabbed it with both hands, thrust it - crust first - into her mouth and inhaled it. Once she finished the first piece, she grabbed her mother's piece. The best part of the meal - the leftovers. Lunch today was salmon w/basil mayonnaise.

"All the things I really like to do are either immoral, illegal or fattening." -- Alexander Woollcott "When you stir your rice pudding, Septimus, the spoonful of jam spreads itself round making trails like the picture of a meteor in my astronomical atlas." -- Arcadia by Tom Stoppard

The lack of chill for my base was the first thing I considered. But I tend to chill it overnight before churning. Thanks for the thought.

I was there a couple of weeks ago. I tasted the lemon, but went for the coffee collapse and vanilla. The whole place is kind of wild. The front window of the shop is shaped to look like a grain of rice and they carry the shape throughout. I also thought the packaging was impressive. As for the product -- I liked the texture. The coffee with ok, but I couldn't discern any cardammom. I really liked the vanilla. I found the lemon was intensely flavored. I would go back and try other flavors. We were in the store for about 20 minutes and the traffic was steady. They seem to have found a market for the product.

During the summer I make herbed iced teas. I don't use specific quantities - just eyeball it based on the pot I'm using. I make a sugar syrup. In another pot I boil up water. Then add 4 or 5 tea bags and a bunch of mint/lemon basil/whatever smelled good at the greenmarket and steep for 7 or 8 minutes. Then I combine the tea and syrup in a container along with the herbs and add some additional water and chill in the fridge. I like the tea with a hint of sweetness but not overwhelmingly sweet.

I read Prague back in the fall. I found it quite good. For those of you who read Bourdain's Bobby Gold and liked it - you should try Gone Bamboo. It's pretty wacky. Right now, food-related -- I'm going through the Greens Cookbook. I finally picked it up after years of thinking about it. Non food - Sunday Jews by Hortense Callisher.

I was introduced to the wonders of Silpat at a class given by Francois Payard about 7 years ago. He made the most intricately designed cookies using tuile batter and assorted painter's tools. Ever since that, I use both Silpat and parchment paper (it depends on the width of my pan) and haven't found a difference with either. You can find real Silpat at Marshalls -- my monther-in-law bought 4 of them thinking they were interesting looking place mats (she doesn't bake). I was the beneficiary.

I've been having the fat issue as well and the recipe I use has 1 1/2 cups heavy cream, 1 1/2 cups milk plus 5 yolks. the suggestion I keep getting is that I'm overchurning my ice cream. I haven't tried it yet, but maybe that will get rid of your problem.

Same here. It never occurred to me that I ate "funny."

Hi! Newbie here. How about a mesclun salad with pistachios, kumquats, papaya, with a citrus vinagrette? I had this at Greens last year and have recreated it at home numerous times since. Additionally, if you have access the the Francois Payard cookbook, he has a delicious recipe for pistachio-almond biscotti.