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eG Foodblog: Prepcook and Susan in FL


Susan in FL

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I ate an avocado, with S&P and some lemon juice, spooning it out of the skin.  I love this.

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This is sooooo beautiful. Avocado this way is one of my favorite treats also.

I've enjoyed reading your posts on the Dinner thread and am really looking forward to this blog. Thanks for sharing with us!

Jan

Great blog.

Just to mention: I like to just half avacado, hache (cross cut down to the skin), gently unfld then drizzle shoyu and wasabi into the spaces. Wonderful with a shellfish or fish dish with Asian flavours.

Oh. Another thing I do for a snack or an easy first course: a bit of salmon roe and black pepper, bit of lime juice.

"I've caught you Richardson, stuffing spit-backs in your vile maw. 'Let tomorrow's omelets go empty,' is that your fucking attitude?" -E. B. Farnum

"Behold, I teach you the ubermunch. The ubermunch is the meaning of the earth. Let your will say: the ubermunch shall be the meaning of the earth!" -Fritzy N.

"It's okay to like celery more than yogurt, but it's not okay to think that batter is yogurt."

Serving fine and fresh gratuitous comments since Oct 5 2001, 09:53 PM

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Our house is small, but has lots of space.  What is different about ours is that we have 1 1/2 acres.  In a neighborhood, that is pretty unusual.  I love it.  (Can you tell??!)  Short of being wealthy and having my fantasy house, this is my dream house.

Where does your mom live?

my mom is in ocala...wouldn't have been my first choice, but she is really happy there - for all the reasons you mentioned! she is building her second house now, but it's in a retirement development - she was tired of her pool and land - can you imagine?! the best part about visiting was sitting on her lanai eating shrimp and drinking vodka.

can someone please explain toast dope to me?

from overheard in new york:

Kid #1: Paper beats rock. BAM! Your rock is blowed up!

Kid #2: "Bam" doesn't blow up, "bam" makes it spicy. Now I got a SPICY ROCK! You can't defeat that!

--6 Train

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can someone please explain toast dope to me?

toast dope

"Under the dusty almond trees, ... stalls were set up which sold banana liquor, rolls, blood puddings, chopped fried meat, meat pies, sausage, yucca breads, crullers, buns, corn breads, puff pastes, longanizas, tripes, coconut nougats, rum toddies, along with all sorts of trifles, gewgaws, trinkets, and knickknacks, and cockfights and lottery tickets."

-- Gabriel Garcia Marquez, 1962 "Big Mama's Funeral"

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The table on our porch which is probably familiar-looking, but here it is unadorned by a dinner (and I bought a tablecloth, hoping it would cut back on glare and reflections in our photos):

Aha! A new excuse for buying a new tablecloth! Thank you! :biggrin:

I *want* your countertops. That's a great color, and you need not apologize about being a slob cook; they still look great under all that food-in-progress.

I also *want* your screened porch. Very Florida-looking (my mother comes from Delray Beach, and I still have kinfolk there). Unfortunately, that screened porch wouldn't be much good up here any more this year. :angry: It's the fireplace for us, now. :cool:

I'm so glad someone else asked about Toast Dope so I didn't have to! :smile:

Nancy Smith, aka "Smithy"
HosteG Forumsnsmith@egstaff.org

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"Every day should be filled with something delicious, because life is too short not to spoil yourself. " -- Ling (with permission)
"There comes a time in every project when you have to shoot the engineer and start production." -- author unknown

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My schedule changed and I'm off this afternoon. This gave me a chance to go to the stores, and get a head start on dinner and the evening, and sign on here, all of which I am very glad about. :smile:

am working on a new cocktail with ginger liqueur and toast dope......

edited to say johnnybird also caps his beer... usually with one of my wine or champagne capping devices :wink:

Please keep me posted on the recipe development for that cocktail!

And, about the capping, that's what I used... What a good discovery, since there are times when I only want a glass of beer instead of the whole bottle.

Do you leave the oven door open a crack when you broil?

Yes. I seem to recall that being part of the instructions on the use of the oven. In our home before this, our oven doors sort of clicked into place more easily when left cracked open. Sometimes getting that just right with this oven, which was in the house when we bought it, is quite a comedy of errors. In our house in Delaware which we remodeled we had a huge kitchen with better appliances, including two ovens.

P.S. Not a silly question to me!

Just to mention: I like to just half avacado, hache (cross cut down to the skin), gently unfld then drizzle shoyu and wasabi into the spaces. Wonderful with a shellfish or fish dish with Asian flavours.

Oh. Another thing I do for a snack or an easy first course: a bit of salmon roe and black pepper, bit of lime juice.

Mmmm.... both sound good, thanks. About the second, you were referring to putting the salmon roe in an avocado half, I assume... ? I really like that idea.

my mom is in ocala...wouldn't have been my first choice, but she is really happy there - for all the reasons you mentioned! she is building her second house now, but it's in a retirement development - she was tired of her pool and land - can you imagine?! the best part about visiting was sitting on her lanai eating shrimp and drinking vodka.

Nice... :wub:

Has your mom ever caught a glimpse of John Travolta or seen his home? He moved from within two miles of our house (the fly-in community) to Ocala!

can someone please explain toast dope to me?

Thanks, Ludja! I should have included a link to explain.

Life is short; eat the cheese course first.

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Aha! A new excuse for buying a new tablecloth!  Thank you!  :biggrin:

Any time, Smithy... I can always come up with excuses to buy something for the kitchen or porch. :biggrin: And, guess what I did when I was out doing errands this afternoon... bought another one, with matching napkins! I have such a weakness for Bed, Bath and Beyond. Every time I get one of their coupons in the mail, which are for a single item, I go and buy something else that is on my list.

Life is short; eat the cheese course first.

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Today my morning black coffee was quickly consumed at the computer, while I checked my email and took a peak here. Since I ended up being off this afternoon, I could have lunch at home. :smile: I picked one of my favorite brunch or lunch foods, cottage cheese -- considered gross or weird by some -- topped with fresh tomatoes, basil, and salt & pepper.

I like photographing lunch food, when there is natural light! The dark of night on the porch has presented me with some challenges.

gallery_13038_312_1099597877.jpg

Life is short; eat the cheese course first.

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I picked one of my favorite brunch or lunch foods, cottage cheese -- considered gross or weird by some -- topped with fresh tomatoes, basil, and salt & pepper.gallery_13038_312_1099597877.jpg

Basil ... good. Tomatoes ... GOOD. Cheese (cottage) ... GOOD!.

Cottage cheese is kinda like bocconcini that just didn't quite get it together :biggrin: .

A.

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Nice...  :wub: 

Has your mom ever caught a glimpse of John Travolta or seen his home?  He moved from within two miles of our house (the fly-in community) to Ocala!

i think she has - in a restaurant - she used to live very close to George Steinbrenner's ranch...but we don't think he hangs out in central FL too much. Horse farms are nice though...so is the catfish out in Silver Springs.

can someone please explain toast dope to me?

Thanks, Ludja!  I should have included a link to explain.

yes - thanks much ludja. something else to make...and susan your lunch made me drool. i miss my tomatoes already!

smithy - my grandmother lived in Delray for years. In Kings Point. Best thing about FL imo is PIX brand cream soda from Publix (see how this is all about food?). haven't had it in years, but it's what i remember best about visiting her. and the heat!

Edited by reesek (log)

from overheard in new york:

Kid #1: Paper beats rock. BAM! Your rock is blowed up!

Kid #2: "Bam" doesn't blow up, "bam" makes it spicy. Now I got a SPICY ROCK! You can't defeat that!

--6 Train

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Just to mention: I like to just half avacado, hache (cross cut down to the skin), gently unfld then drizzle shoyu and wasabi into the spaces. Wonderful with a shellfish or fish dish with Asian flavours.

Oh. Another thing I do for a snack or an easy first course: a bit of salmon roe and black pepper, bit of lime juice.

Mmmm.... both sound good, thanks. About the second, you were referring to putting the salmon roe in an avocado half, I assume... ? I really like that idea.

Yes. Or in crescents cut from the avacado.

"I've caught you Richardson, stuffing spit-backs in your vile maw. 'Let tomorrow's omelets go empty,' is that your fucking attitude?" -E. B. Farnum

"Behold, I teach you the ubermunch. The ubermunch is the meaning of the earth. Let your will say: the ubermunch shall be the meaning of the earth!" -Fritzy N.

"It's okay to like celery more than yogurt, but it's not okay to think that batter is yogurt."

Serving fine and fresh gratuitous comments since Oct 5 2001, 09:53 PM

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Just to mention: I like to just half avacado, hache (cross cut down to the skin), gently unfld then drizzle shoyu and wasabi into the spaces. Wonderful with a shellfish or fish dish with Asian flavours.

Oh. Another thing I do for a snack or an easy first course: a bit of salmon roe and black pepper, bit of lime juice.

Nice.

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While I was doing some dinner prep this afternoon, I drank an iced coffee. When there is a significant amount of coffee left in the morning, I add Splenda and pour it into a carafe and keep it in the fridge. To drink, I pour it on ice and add half & half or cream. I like hot coffee in the morning black, but for iced coffee, I like this treat.

(Note the obviously new tablecloth and napkins with the fold marks still there because I wasn't about to iron it today. :biggrin: )

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Dinner was Cuban-style: Mojitos, Cuban sandwich, plantain soup, avocado & onion salad, and beer to wash down the remaining food after the Mojitos were gone.

For Mojitos we most often use the recipe from Sloppy Joe's Bar, in Havana. Tonight I adapted it to make a "mix" ahead, and we added the rum and sparkling water to that when it was time to have the drinks. We tried a new kind of rum tonight, a change from our usual everyday Mount Gay to Pampero Anniversario. Yum! Thanks to eG's The Ministry of Rum, we are learning more, and I could easily get used the the good stuff.

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That thing next to the bottle of rum (which came in a "leather" bag) is something I found in a gift shop recently. I had never seen one of them before. It's sort of a special Mojito mortar and pestle for crushing together the mint and sugar.

The Cuban sandwich tasted great, but my mistake was getting it toasted when smashing it, instead of cooked just enough to melt the cheese and no further. The bread was too crispy. I have been on a mission to get my Cuban sandwiches to be just like they are at the restaurant where I like them best. I still haven't quite achieved that. On the inside is a thin layer of mayo and mustard mixture spread just on the bottom bread, then ham, salami, roast pork, sliced Claussen pickles, thinly sliced onion, and swiss cheese in that order. On the outside of the bread is a little garlic butter, and then a dusting of parmesan cheese just before serving.

We don't have a sandwich press, so this is what we do.

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The soup was that chicken stock I made yesterday, with pieces of garlic and fried plantains in it, simmered until the plantains are falling apart and mushy. This was a first, and since the stock was a really good batch, this turned out really good.

The avocado and onion salad was avocado and onion. LOL... and lime juice, EVOO, and salt & pepper.

After the Mojitos were gone, Russ finished up with a bottle of Corona and I with a Victory Hop Devil IPA.

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Edited by Susan in FL (log)

Life is short; eat the cheese course first.

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Yum, what a nice sounding (and looking) meal. Nice to have such an abundance of avocados. (I like what you and jinmyo suggested above...)

Do you guys have Haas avocados out there or what kind do you have and like for eating in salads like above? (I think at one point Haas were "west coast" and that Florida had other varieties...)

"Under the dusty almond trees, ... stalls were set up which sold banana liquor, rolls, blood puddings, chopped fried meat, meat pies, sausage, yucca breads, crullers, buns, corn breads, puff pastes, longanizas, tripes, coconut nougats, rum toddies, along with all sorts of trifles, gewgaws, trinkets, and knickknacks, and cockfights and lottery tickets."

-- Gabriel Garcia Marquez, 1962 "Big Mama's Funeral"

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Russ posted about his vegetable chips, and at first we had some trouble loading that photo, but now here it is.

gallery_13038_312_1099450798.jpg

Susan and Russ, I'm really enjoying this blog, now that I've had a chance to catch up with it from the beginning.

What kinds of vegetables are in that bag of vegetable chips?

Michael aka "Pan"

 

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The soup was that chicken stock I made yesterday, with pieces of garlic and fried plantains in it, simmered until the plantains are falling apart and mushy.  This was a first, and since the stock was a really good batch, this turned out really good.

gallery_13038_312_1099619568.jpg

Hi Susan,

The soup sounds and looks really good. Did you blend it to smoothen or leave it mushy/chunky?

BTW I love candles and all sorts of voltive holders, etc. Your merry turtles are precious!

Great blog!

Yetty

Yetty CintaS

I am spaghetttti

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Do you guys have Haas avocados out there or what kind do you have and like for eating in salads like above?  (I think at one point Haas were "west coast" and that Florida had other varieties...)

The photo looked like a Haas avocado to me. They are different from other avocados and, in fact, we had a state funeral here in California when the mother tree passed on a couple of years ago.

(Okay, I lied about the state funeral but the rest of it is true...)

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Do you guys have Haas avocados out there or what kind do you have and like for eating in salads like above?  (I think at one point Haas were "west coast" and that Florida had other varieties...)

I think you're right, and both are available here. Store bought, we like Haas better than Florida grown. Often in the supermarkets the Florida avocados are labeled as low fat or some such nonsense. They don't have nearly the flavor as the Haas. The Florida ones are better bought from a produce market; however, the best we have tasted have been given to us, freshly picked from trees here. :wub:

What kinds of vegetables are in that bag of vegetable chips?

Quite a variety! ...Sweet potato, yucca, purple potato, taro root, carrot, parsnip, red beet, and salsify.

Did you blend it to smoothen or leave it mushy/chunky?

BTW I love candles and all sorts of voltive holders, etc.  Your merry turtles are precious!

The soup was left mushy/chunky, and quite good like that to my surprise. I was very tempted to blend it, but the recipe I used, from a cookbook of Miami recipes, didn't recommend blending. I'm glad I happened to follow those directions. :smile:

The merry turtles are sweet, and have a story. We were at a restaurant called Turtles in a nearby town, enjoying the dinner, and admiring this voltive holder/candle aloud, apparently within earshot of the owner. He came up to us, and told us we could have it!

The photo looked like a Haas avocado to me. They are different from other avocados and, in fact, we had a state funeral here in California when the mother tree passed on a couple of years ago.

(Okay, I lied about the state funeral but the rest of it is true...)

Cool link!

It's almost the weekend! Tomorrow night we are doing our Friday night happy hour thing after work as usual; only this time, camera along with us.

Life is short; eat the cheese course first.

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Just to mention: I like to just half avacado, hache (cross cut down to the skin), gently unfld then drizzle shoyu and wasabi into the spaces. Wonderful with a shellfish or fish dish with Asian flavours.

Oh. Another thing I do for a snack or an easy first course: a bit of salmon roe and black pepper, bit of lime juice.

another good thing - big splash of Worcestershire sauce (Lea + Perrins) in the hollow, then s+p.

thanks for this blog, Susan in FL!

Fi Kirkpatrick

tofu fi fie pho fum

"Your avatar shoes look like Marge Simpson's hair." - therese

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Haas avocados are usually available throughout Florida at approximately twice the price of the typical Florida avocado. Florida avocados are quite large and lack much taste. Nothing close to the richness of a haas avocado.

rich

South Florida

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Susan - I am checking in to tell you how much I appreciate this blog, and HOW BEAUTIFUL YOUR PICTURES ARE!!!

It's turning wintry very quickly here in DC, and I am staring at the photos of your beautiful home, weather and food longingly. I keep sighing loudly and muttering under my breath :smile:

Re: The Cuban - I had to laugh when I saw that picture - we cooked a "chicken under a brick" last week, except it was really a "chicken under a barbell weight".

I like to press my cubans for an hour before cooking - sort of like a pain bagnat - and then toast them, lightly pressed. Gets everything appropriately smushy and puts just the right amount of cruch.

Again, thank you for doing this!!!

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Susan, what a great dinner you had last night! How fun and festive. We make panini the same way as you do.

We love mojitos. One thing Ihave started doing which everyone seems to love is put a piece of fresh sugar cane in the drink as a stirrer. You can stir and chew on it which is tasty. We copied that from a restaurant here in Seattle.

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These foodblogs always seem to motivate me to go into my kitchen and whip up a replica of the beautiful pictures I see. I made Laksa's congee, which involved some prep and cleaning up my counter after my rice cooker bubbled over. Then I made Anna N's meatballs, which involved an insane amount of beating, and then resting from the beating.

But this week I just have to go to the store and buy myself an avocado, cut it open and eat it. How clever and considerate of you to think of something so simple, Susan!

Thanks for blogging! :smile:

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It's the one year anniversary of my eG membership today! I never imagined when I joined that I would be doing an eG Food Blog a year later. This is a timely opportunity for me to thank everybody for making eG what it is, the best food site and online community I've known. I've enjoyed sharing the joys, and I've gained not only knowledge from you all, but also new internet food friends. Thanks!

I was up earlier than usual this morning, even for a work day. I had to go in early. Our Hospice organization, for whom Russ and I both work, gave my department a breakfast, so I broke from my usual pattern of not eating breakfast on work days. More on that food in the next post, but first, it occured to me that we hadn't yet mentioned about the start of our days, except that the coffee is black. We (usually Russ) set the coffee maker each night for the next morning. It is a Melitta Mill and Brew. We used the old fashioned Melitta for years and years, and then wanted to be able to both grind our beans and set the coffee to automatically be made when we get up. We've been doing this for a couple of years. It fits the bill and we like the coffee a lot.

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Life is short; eat the cheese course first.

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