eG Foodblog: therese - So, you want to remodel your kitchen?

[therese]

Boy makes crepes, scrambled eggs (correctly)

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Ah, now there's a question that has started the eternal arguments. Just what is the "correct" way to make scrambled eggs?

Therese, since you like games, add this to your repetoire. If you ask a bunch of people how they make their scrambled eggs you can get the most amusing discussion going. Before you know it the purists (who only use eggs and salt) are calling the liguidists (add water/milk/etc) heretics, and then you get to the people who add seasonings. Makes those holy wars seems downright tame at times.

So what is <i>your</i> correct way? It's your blog, you get to be right.

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Heh heh. I don't feel strongly about the milk/no milk question (and have shown my son that both options work) and am also fine with adding mix-ins as long as they're added at the last minute. I generally make them with eggs and salt only.

It's the cooking temperature (and hence the rate at which they cook) that I emphasize with Boy: lower heat so as to give a nice soft fluffy product, as opposed to higher heat for an omelette. Nothing so depressing as dessicated browned egg shreds being passed off as scrambled eggs.

[andiesenji]

Where's the fourth alcoholic beverage in the picture (so far we've got hard cider, beer, and Japanese plum wine)? If you drink this item frequently you'll probabaly recognize the bottle (it's back by the milk), even with just a small portion of it showing.

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?Chimay

[therese]

Where's the fourth alcoholic beverage in the picture (so far we've got hard cider, beer, and Japanese plum wine)? If you drink this item frequently you'll probabaly recognize the bottle (it's back by the milk), even with just a small portion of it showing.

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?Chimay

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Nothing so esoteric this time 'round.

This beverage comes in two varieties, and each has its fans. The variety I've purchased comes in a green bottle, the other option comes in a colorless bottle. I drink it over ice with a slice of lime.

[therese]

Another hint: it comes from Podensac.

[therese]

Dinner tonight (looking a bit wrinkly from the butcher's wrapping paper):

[therese]

More dinner:

[Jensen]

Another hint: it comes from Podensac.

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Vermouth?

I bought some Cinzano bianco today. I like it chilled, over ice, and with a slice of lemon.

[therese]

Another hint: it comes from Podensac.

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Vermouth?

I bought some Cinzano bianco today. I like it chilled, over ice, and with a slice of lemon.

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Okay, then, I think that settles the question of our having been separated at birth conclusively: my preferred aperitif is vermouth, on the rocks, with a twist.

Except that I generally take sweet red vermouth. Which would make me Rose Red to Jensen's Snow White.

This beverage is similar to vermouth, but a bit fruitier. A bit more like sangria (though not sangria).

[reesek]

therese,

even with a miserable cold i'm enchanted by your blog. the view from your kitchen reminds me of western maryland - gorgeous!

you mentioned a hearth-like feel was important to you when designing your kitchen...show me the hearth, lady!

and full-frontal (kitchen) shots...i'm sure the suspense will be worth the wait, but (call me camille) i may not make it.

show me the kitchen!

oh - do you drink beer at home more than wine? tell me more about the dessert wine you enjoyed at the restaurant...is it similar at all to ice wine? you mentioned that it was demi-sec...right? what's that like? (i'm no expert, but i adore pear-y dessert wine but don't like raisin-y ones - or port) i'm always looking for new ones to try.

[reesek]

Another hint: it comes from Podensac.

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Vermouth?

I bought some Cinzano bianco today. I like it chilled, over ice, and with a slice of lemon.

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Okay, then, I think that settles the question of our having been separated at birth conclusively: my preferred aperitif is vermouth, on the rocks, with a twist.

Except that I generally take sweet red vermouth. Which would make me Rose Red to Jensen's Snow White.

This beverage is similar to vermouth, but a bit fruitier. A bit more like sangria (though not sangria).

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lillet rouge?

[ludja]

oops, never mind (in my best RosanneRosannadanna voice)

Edited February 17, 2005 by ludja (log)

[therese]

even with a miserable cold i'm enchanted by your blog. the view from your kitchen reminds me of western maryland - gorgeous!

you mentioned a hearth-like feel was important to you when designing your kitchen...show me the hearth, lady!

and full-frontal (kitchen) shots...i'm sure the suspense will be worth the wait, but (call me camille) i may not make it.

show me the kitchen!

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All my sympathy as regards the cold. I'm between colds at the moment, but will surely be sick again soon. Preferably not with consumption, of course...

But since you like the view, here's one that includes the breakfast room, right before dinner. Girl is doing her homework, and you can see the golf course in the background. This view's less impressive, at least on film, once the leaves come in.

There's another room to Girl's right (you can use that hutch at the corner of the breakfast room with the soup tureen as a reference point), a screened porch. It's not yet furnished (it's on order), but will contain a wicker love seat and occasional chairs and a round table just big enough to seat four. We included this room in the design because we like to eat and relax outside, and this way we can do it without the company of mosquitoes (and under a ceiling fan):

Another view of the screened porch. You can see some of the open air deck beyond it:

Finally, the hearth, an oblique shot that I took while making dinner, a bit blurry:

[therese]

lillet rouge?

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Oui.

And it looks like ludja must have been hard on your heels, so she gets credit as well.

[therese]

oh - do you drink beer at home more than wine? tell me more about the dessert wine you enjoyed at the restaurant...is it similar at all to ice wine? you mentioned that it was demi-sec...right? what's that like? (i'm no expert, but i adore pear-y dessert wine but don't like raisin-y ones - or port) i'm always looking for new ones to try.

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I'd say we drink about the same amounts of wine and beer. It really depends on what we're eating. With last night's country ham dinner we drank hard cider.

The Schramsberg Cremant demi sec is a sparkling wine that we first tasted on a tour of Schramsberg Vineyards over 10 years ago. A cool place to visit, but I think you need to call ahead and book now.

So not in the least bit raisin-y, and nowhere near as sweet as ice wine (which I usually find throat-grabbingly sweet) but still so sweet that you wouldn't consider drinking it with anything savory. Or at least I wouldn't.

[reesek]

sigh

thank you.

less impressive in spring, but i bet that view is dazzling in fall.

how does one get into your will?

btw - those aren't mung beans are they?

[Abra]

Therese, I have to break this to you. Those ginger candies are traditionally used as a remedy for nausea, specifically, sea sickness and morning sickness. Any chance you have either?

I am forever looking for cidre de Normandie here and have yet to find a drop.

[reesek]

I am forever looking for cidre de Normandie here and have yet to find a drop.

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is that anything like the cider (sidra) produced in asturias in spain? unfiltered, not sweet...but fruity and unbelievably good with octopus?

professional at work

[Safran]

Ah, brilliant! You kept the window, and added an extractor. I really really like the look and I think you might have solved one of my reno problems. Merci!

[therese]

less impressive in spring, but i bet that view is dazzling in fall.

how does one get into your will? 

btw - those aren't mung beans are they?

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The view's actually pretty cool all the time, it would just be harder to photograph. Atlanta gets really remarkably lush and green, and both spring and fall last a long time. Fall color is often not as spectacular as one might hope, as the combination of sufficient rainfall and cold doesn't necessarily come together properly every year. Spring is fantastic, a flower fairy land.

As for the will, well, you could meet my son. He's 14, but very precocious.

They are not mung beans. Here's the finished product, along with the remainder of the meal:

Here's what remains of the lamb (one of my kids has a thing for marrow):

Here's dessert:

We drank a shiraz with dinner tonight.

[therese]

Therese, I have to break this to you.  Those ginger candies are traditionally used as a remedy for nausea, specifically, sea sickness and morning sickness.  Any chance you have either?

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Well, I'm not on a boat. So I guess that leaves morning sickness. Or maybe I've just got a yen for weird candy. I've heard of ginger being good for morning sickness, but I don't think it would have helped me very much. Any more than saltines in any case.

[therese]

I am forever looking for cidre de Normandie here and have yet to find a drop.

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is that anything like the cider (sidra) produced in asturias in spain? unfiltered, not sweet...but fruity and unbelievably good with octopus?

professional at work

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Sounds like it's very similar.

[therese]

Ah, brilliant!  You kept the window, and added an extractor.  I really really like the look and I think you might have solved one of my reno problems.  Merci!

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Pas de quoi, Safran.

I really do love this arrangement. I knew that I wanted the kitchen to be primarily based on this particular wall with an island opposite. So I could have put the range (or cooktop) on the island and the sink under the window, and that would have been the conventional arrangement. But the range on the island didn't give me the "hearth" feel that I wanted, and I also didn't want the cooktop to be that close to the bar (which I've not specifically shown yet) where visitors sit and keep me company while I cook.

Conventional wisdom said that I couldn't have a range under a window, and in fact to meet local code the range had to be bumped out from that wall 6". But the resulting ledge is one of the most heavily used areas in the kitchen: my knife block sits up there, as well as tea making supplies and oil and vinegar and salt and the oatmeal tin and paper towels and whatever else I feel like having up there. Everything's right where I need it, but not down on the counter where it clutters up my work surface.

The exhaust hood is actually an island hood (somewhat more expensive that a wall mount type) and I had to look to find one that was narrow enough to fit over the counter.

[slbunge]

I am forever looking for cidre de Normandie here and have yet to find a drop.

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For what it is worth, I saw it at a cheese/specialty store here in Boston about a week ago. Don't remember the price. Almost bought it but since I was walking and already had an armload of cheese, wine, etc. I passed. I'll pay closer attention when I am there again. I am an alarmingly frequent visitor to the store.

Edited February 17, 2005 by slbunge (log)

[therese]

I am forever looking for cidre de Normandie here and have yet to find a drop.

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For what it is worth, I saw it at a cheese/specialty store here in Boston about a week ago. Don't remember the price. Almost bought it but since I was walking and already had an armload of cheese, wine, etc. I'll pay closer attention when I am there again. I am an alarmingly frequent visit to the store.

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There isn't a reason in the world that somebody here in the U.S. or Canada couldn't make a great cider. I shouldn't have to go to the trouble of buying a French product. Not that there's anything wrong with French products per se, it just seems silly to not buy local in this instance. It's apples, after all.

There are small North American makers of cider and perry, mostly west coast. I tried some a couple of years ago at at Breton crepe place in San Francisco called Ti Couz, but they were all too sweet (and in many instances just entirely too fruity---like an alcoholic Jolly Rancher).

Hmm, maybe I should try making some hard cider. We (Boy and The Man, actually) made beer a couple of months ago and it was pretty good.

Anyway, if my local Publix starts stocking cidre I'll have no excuse for excessive indulgence on my trip abroad. My last visit to France (for work) included an additional week's stay at a thalasso spa. I lunched (while seated on the balcony overlooking the Mediterranean) on bread with chevre and duck sausage and cherries and strawberries and cidre every day.

[therese]

Hey, remember basil seeds? Well, I was sitting at work today and remembered another item in my kitchen which should probably also go on the "what the hell is that?" list of consumable items presently in my kitchen:

And of course now I'm going to ask if anybody knows what it is. Heh heh heh...