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

[ludja]

pomegranate?

[Jensen]

That may be cider on the table but I know there's beer in the house somewhere. Oh, were we supposed to limit ourselves to the table????

In that case, I'm not proud...

eggs

[slbunge]

Is that a bunch of rapini?

[therese]

Is that a bunch of rapini?

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Chinese broccoli, but I'm not going to argue the point.

And there's both beer and hard cider (yes, it's Hornsby's, but what kind of Hornsby's? the labels are color-coded).

Can you find the beer? It's there.

Two other alcoholic beverages as well.

[Jensen]

Is that beer underneath the gai lan? sort of behind the garlic chives?

Edited to add that I guess those aren't garlic chives, if Safran says they're ramps...

Edited February 16, 2005 by Jensen (log)

[Safran]

Ramps (wild garlic)....Nahhhh...too early in the season. But if they WERE, I'd be jealous, jealous, jealous...not envious, but downright jealous.

[SobaAddict70]

This is pretty cool.

I'd say the green bottle thing is EVOO. Or salad dressing of some sort.

Could be wrong though.

Soba

[slbunge]

This is pretty cool.

I'd say the green bottle thing is EVOO.  Or salad dressing of some sort. 

Could be wrong though. 

Soba

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Sadly, I'm enough of a nerd to google 'Choya' from the bottle label and found it to be one of the alcoholic items she referenced upthread.

Some sort of Japenese fruit liquor.

[therese]

This is pretty cool.

I'd say the green bottle thing is EVOO.  Or salad dressing of some sort. 

Could be wrong though.  

Soba

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Sadly, I'm enough of a nerd to google 'Choya' from the bottle label and found it to be one of the alcoholic items she referenced upthread.

Some sort of Japenese fruit liquor.

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Yep, it's Choya, Japanese plum wine. There's even a couple of plums on the label. The neck of the bottle is as wide as the body because there are actually small green plums (ume) that have basically been pickled resting in the bottom of the bottle. When you serve the Choya you serve a plum in the bottom of the glass as well (or at least that's how it's been served to me---there may be some question of etiquette here of which I'm not aware; I eat the plum, too, and it's sort of odd---mental note to ask Torakris and/or Hiroyuki what the story is here)

[therese]

Ramps (wild garlic)....Nahhhh...too early in the season.  But if they WERE, I'd be jealous, jealous, jealous...not envious, but downright jealous.

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Not ramps (yes, too early in the season, and I'd probably have to get them at the Morningside Farmers Market, which is a real small farmers with trucks sort of market), but chive blossoms. If you've not had chive blossoms, Safran, and you're a fan of ramps you might want to check them out.

Do not heat them in the microwave at work. Unless maybe you've already given notice.

[therese]

Is that beer underneath the gai lan? sort of behind the garlic chives?

Edited to add that I guess those aren't garlic chives, if Safran says they're ramps...

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Yes, that is beer under the gai lan (aka Chinese broccoli). But what kind of beer? It's a king among beers, you know...

[therese]

Pomegranates, check.

Croissants, check.

Eggs, check.

There's another alcoholic beverage that's sort of hiding out behind behind the gai lan (and another vegetable that's actually standing on end between the gai lan and the bottle in question).

And apart from the eggs there are four other dairy sorts of items in the picture. One's particularly difficult, but you can probably guess from the packaging.

[therese]

You can make the image larger by right clicking on it and setting it as your desktop. A little bit easier to distinguish item that way.

[therese]

Lunch today was out with TheFoodTutor. We don't usually dine together this frequently, but there aren't too many people out there who wouldn't think I was odd for photographing my food.

Where we went is one of those places that people describe as "an institution". It's been around since 1945 and is one of the few places in town that actually does serve southern food. Some of it's even fried.

Where we didn't go, but also a place I can recommend if you're visiting downtown/midtown Atlanta is Papi's East Cuban. Mostly takeaway with a couple of tables inside (and outside in nice weather), and lots of fried items (one of which is advertised on the poster in the window):

But Papi's was not what everybody here at eGullet was clamoring for, right? Southern food, that's the ticket, and I'm here to deliver. So on the corner oppposite Papi's you'll find:

The part of the sign that's obscured by the roof says "Tea Room", but Mary Mac's is nothing to do with Earl Grey and scones. While waiting for my lunch companion I photographed some of the menu:

Look over the side dishes and consider what items might be good together. Note that of the possible meal formulas the one that's mentioned first is the "Fresh Vegetable Plate" (the description points out that you are not limited to vegetables---any combination of four side dishes qualifies), as this is indeed a very tradional and popular option.

Oh, and take notes, because there's going to be a test.

[ludja]

...

And apart from the eggs there are four other dairy sorts of items in the picture. One's particularly difficult, but you can probably guess from the packaging.

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Goat cheese log near the front?

Mascarpone in tub?

[therese]

Goat cheese log near the front?

Mascarpone in tub?

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You're describing as a log the item wrapped in yellow paper? This company does make goat (and other types of milk) items, but this isn't one of them.

Mascarpone does often come in a tub like that one, but this item is not mascarpone.

In both instances somebody who already uses the product will likely recognize the packaging.

There's another dairy product immediately below the tub. It's a clear container with a block of something white in it.

Oh, and I just realized that there's another dairy product on the table (in addition to the milk, which I'll just go ahead and tell you is behind the pomegranates).

Edited February 16, 2005 by therese (log)

[munchymom]

Is the log butter? Is the tub fat-free feta (guessing from the 0% on the label?)

And no one else has claimed the Bionaturae whole-wheat pasta yet... I love that stuff.

[therese]

Is the log butter?  Is the tub fat-free feta (guessing from the 0% on the label?)

And no one else has claimed the Bionaturae whole-wheat pasta yet... I love that stuff.

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The log is butter, a certain sort of butter for which I profess a particular preference earlier in this thread (and by type of butter I don't mean vendor).

The tub does contain a fat free item, and it's even Greek, but it's not feta. But I'm going to give you credit for feta (most definitely not fat free) because that's what's in the clear plastic box beneath the tub.

Bionaturae whole wheat pasta, check. Penne rigate in this instance.

[Jensen]

Yes, that is beer under the gai lan (aka Chinese broccoli). But what kind of beer? It's a king among beers, you know...

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Please don't tell me it's Budweiser (unless it's Budvar).

[Jensen]

There's also the Panela cheese which you've mentioned somewhere but I can't remember where.

[therese]

Time to talk about the kitchen some more.

The next item I'm going to discuss involves two small appliances found in most U.S. homes these days. Both of them bug me because they typically eat up counter space and need an outlet. One of them invariably gets all goopy and tends to accumulate crumbs in the immediate vicinity.

So here's my solution:

It sits in a niche that's built into a floor to ceiling counter-depth cabinet. The niche includes an electrical outlet in the back. Above the niche is a cabinet that I use for storing infrequently used items like vases and buffet plates for big parties. Below the niche are drawers for plastic wrap/foil sorts of things, more small appliances (hand mixer, waffle iron, etc.), and lunch boxes.

To the immediate right of the niche is a countertop.

It looks like a microwave, right? Well, check this out:

Pretty cool, huh? Both the microwave and the toaster work well. The toaster obviously isn't as versatile as a toaster oven, but I have a real oven (two of them, but I'll talk about that later) for real cooking, and it probably wouldn't handle really chubby bagels, but it's fine for us. You can't use both of them at the same time, something my husband discovered sometime within the last month (which means it took him a year to notice it, so it wasn't a huge deal).

It stays much tidier than my old toaster and it doesn't take up any counter space and there's no stupid cord in my way all the time.

Maybe I am some sort of neat freak after all...

[therese]

There's also the Panela cheese which you've mentioned somewhere but I can't remember where.

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Panela cheese, check. It's the white round behind the yellow-wrapped butter log (and what is it that makes this butter so special?), and it's a very pleasant young part skim cow's milk cheese. My kids love it.

[therese]

Yes, that is beer under the gai lan (aka Chinese broccoli). But what kind of beer? It's a king among beers, you know...

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Please don't tell me it's Budweiser (unless it's Budvar).

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No, it's not Budweiser. It's from the same country as another item in this picture that's pretty hard to see unless you know it's there (tucked behind the necks of the hard cider bottles), and even then you'd have to recognize the packaging to know what's contained therein. Jensen?

[Abra]

Is that mustard greens next to the gai lan?

And as for sides, collards with cracklins jumped right out at me, and I'd like that with fried okra, squash souffle, and if it isn't too piggy of me, pot likker and cornbread, pretty please.

Awesome toaster!

[therese]

Is that mustard greens next to the gai lan?

And as for sides, collards with cracklins jumped right out at me, and I'd like that with fried okra, squash souffle, and if it isn't too piggy of me, pot likker and cornbread, pretty please.

Awesome toaster!

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Not mustard greens next to the gai lan, just leaves that are part of the gai lan bunch. Can you find the vegetable hiding behind the gai lan, towards the side where the milk is? I've actually three different versions of this same vegetable on the table, though you can't see one of them at all, just the container.

The vegetable plate is comprised of four sides, so getting the pot likker is isn't piggy in the least (which is good, because the pot likker has a significant piggy element to it, and then it would be just weird).

One of the coolest things about the toaster was that I didn't even have to leave the house to get it. I bought in on-line from Target, and it was delivered to my front door.