bloviatrix

It was ok, but if I go with the stock to soup method I'm going to have to play with it a little more. The flavor was perfect for the pre-fast meal. Not super seasoned, with a mild chicken flavor. I ended up adding some carrots, onion, and celery to the pot and letting it simmer for a bit. I think I'm going to take Chef Fowkes's suggestion and use this stock for flavoring pilafs, risottos, sauces etc. I've been using canned stock and it has so much fat and salt, it'll be a pleasure to pull something homemade out of the freezer. The chicken soup I usually make is fairly fail-proof, plus with the carcass in cheesecloth it will be even easier to do (I shared this idea with my mil and she loved it). But this hasn't put me off stock making. I just became the proud owner of 8 pounds of veal bones. I'm going to get a new large stock pot this week (My old 20 quart is scorched on the bottom) and make up a pot of veal stock.

Wow, it looks like you guys had an awsome time. The pictures are fabulous. Varmint, what do plan on doing for an encore?

Eddie Izzard at City Center I'll be at Burger Club along with my partner so that's 2. Jamie Sigh. I just called CityTix to see if there were any tickets available (I knew there wouldn't be, seeing as they went on sale months ago, but still had to check) and the woman who answered the phone was a royal BITCH. Ah well, guess I'll just have to wait for the DVD. There's a good chance they'll show it on HBO as they did his last tour.

That sounds so good. Remember, the ice cream/gelato food group is essential to a balanced diet.

Have a great time guys. It sounds awsome. I'm off to my in-laws for the first days of sukkot.

It seems that I mis-understood the original question. I thought it was "the best meal where you proceeded to get drunk" as opposed to "the best meal eaten when drunk" Now, that I'm working with a new definition of best meal eaten drunk, I would have to go back to my college days and the Hot Truck. It was a truck that parked on campus that made sandwiches. On the week-ends, the line for the truck would be enormous and you would frequently wait close to an hour in the freezing cold. I would always order a WGC w/grease and garden which translates to Garlic and cheese w/mayo and lettuce - imagine a very garlicy french bread pizza smothered with mayo and pieces of lettuce. I don't think anyone in their right mind ever ate this stuff sober, but when you were drunk (or stoned) it was like manna from heaven. Of course the next day you would wake up with a splitting head-ache and indigestion.

My husband loves this recipe for Cranberry Ketchup and has been known to eat it straight from the container with a spoon. It's not your "usual" cranberry side and works very well with sliced turkey or chicken. Last year for Thanksgiving I filled up a glass jar with the ketchup, made a pretty label (oh, how Martha ) and brought it to my hosts.

Every so often my brother and I go out for dinner at the sushi place around the corner from his apartment. The place is almost like an extension of his living room. We walk in and sit down, and within seconds sake is placed on the table along with the warmed, moist towels. Shortly thereafter, the tempura shows up. If the sake gets low, Richard, who is always our waiter, brings over more (which happens quite frequently). Inevitably I protest that "this time I really can't drink" as a brief memory of the prior dinner raises it's ugly head. But it's only a threat. Over sushi we bitch about our parents, catch each other up on our lives, talk sports, etc. And then I come home sloshed and wake up the next morning with a wicked hangover.

Tonight I'm repenting for the left-overs we ate last night by making something Brand-New with an ingredient I never used before!!! Wilted Broccoli Rabe (the new ingredient) with garlic and sweet veal sausage The Broccoli Rabe is wilting as I type. I have no idea how it will taste, but it smells damn good.

David Rosengarten has a new book called It's All American Food, The Food we Really Eat, the Dishes we will Always Love. It's broken out into 3 categories - Ethnic American, Regional and Classic American. I skimmed it quickly in the bookstore and might be what you're looking for. Another one is Sheila Lukens USA Cookbook.

2 more for me. I went to Strand today. Came home with David Leibovitz's Ripe for Dessert and a food history book called Eat My Words, Reading Women's Lives Through the Cookbooks They Wrote by Janet Theopano -- looks interesting.

Like everyone else here, I make huge pots of chili and divide it among quart containers. Also, pots of soup. At any given time there will be butternut squash or mushroom barley soup. Finally, brisket. I find that braised brisket freezes very well, so when I entertain I'll make a very large one and freeze the leftovers in 2 serving packages. Unfortunately, my freezer is too small to keep much more in it, although last night I was re-evaluating my space so see where I can hide a small stand-alone freezer (my husband thinks I'm nuts)

Swissmiss asked about your status as and outsider when doing your research. Which leads me to wonder -- how do you find the women who are so generous in opening their kitchens to you?

Just remember - only 30 more weeks to go.

Tonight was left-overs.... Tomato Soup Turkey Breast w/apricot-ginger sauce bulgur pilaf ratatouille There's homemade sorbet in the freezer. Maybe we'll have some of that later.

Obviously you didn't read it closely enough:

Some years ago I undertook a tasting of fries as every stadium and arena I went to. Although this was a national tasting, I found that Madison Square Garden has the best fries locally. This may have changed, as I don't know if the Garden still uses the same food-service vendor. Overall, the best fries are to be found at Pac-Bell in SF. I ended my quest for the perfect "sports" fry about 3 years ago so this could have changed.

So has the government taken away the "right to the persuit of happiness" of drinkers who want to imbibe enormous amounts of alcohol and then get into a car and drive? In both the drinking and smoking cases the government is saying that you can still engage in the activity, just not when there is the risk of harming others who cross your path.

Don't smokers, who are in the disctinct minority, expect everyone to put up with their smoke? That was tyranny of the minority. So now the majority has struck back. In most cases I say the government should stay out of the way and let people decide what's right for them because their behaivor only impacts themselves. But with smoking where I am impacted by the actions of others, I don't have a problem with legislation. I will say that the state legislation can be construed as onerous. Maybe the state law should allow for owners to create "smoking rooms" with the appropriate exhaust systems as the city law did.

For Rosh Hashanah I made a sweet potato and carrot tzimmes that was out of this world. The vegetables were diced, to which I added raisins, dried apricots, two vanilla beans - with the caviar scraped out and added, the peel of half an orange, clove and an orange juice water mixture. The whole thing was simmered for close to hour. Then I removed the orange peel and vanilla pods. Once the mixture cooled, I strained out the liquid and mashed the mixture. You add some of the liquid back to make it wetter if so desired. (The unused liquid was tasty to drink straight up.) Salt and pepper to taste and some honey if it isn't already sweet enough (optional). I think this would go great with turkey.

About 4 years ago there was a recipe in Gourmet for Moroccan-spiced Roasted Vegetables. It calls for shallots, red peppers, butternut squash and sweet potatoes and tossed with a combination of cumin, corriander, and cinnamon. The vegetables carmelize, and the warm spices give it a very nice flavor. Plus, this is large recipe - it serves 12 which is great if your son is cooking for friends.

This is misleading as the tax rate on alcohol on beer in NYS increased. Which leads me to wonder what other misleading facts are in that release.

This is an absolutely brilliant idea. I have to try it next time. The chicken carcasses I used completely broke down and were a mess to remove. Fortunately, I had one sous chef helping aka my husband. He comes in handy for chores such as lifting a heavy stock pot and chopping onions.

Ranch-flavored tortilla chips. I can eat bags of them. I eat a lot of ice cream as well.

One of my favorite, quick dinners is a bean salad and baked salmon. If I don't have beans pre-made, I take a can of black beans and a can chick peas. Dice up some peppers, red onion, garlic and a bit of parsley. Toss with balsamic vinegar and EVOO. Brush some salmon with mustard and sprinkle with bread crumbs and place in oven. Serve beans over mesclun with fish on the side. You've got your protein, your greens and your good fiber. A nice, quick balanced meal.