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[...]along with his favorite green beans:  blanched, shocked, and reheated in butter, shallots, salt and pepper.  Please don't tell his mother!  She cooks her green beans for a week in pure bacon fat and thinks that's the way he likes them  :raz:  :raz:  :raz:

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[...]

They look good, but it occurs to me that I've never asked precisely what "shocked" means. Very quickly sauteed at high heat?

Michael aka "Pan"

 

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[...]along with his favorite green beans:  blanched, shocked, and reheated in butter, shallots, salt and pepper.  Please don't tell his mother!  She cooks her green beans for a week in pure bacon fat and thinks that's the way he likes them  :raz:  :raz:  :raz:

gallery_28661_3538_36472.jpg

[...]

They look good, but it occurs to me that I've never asked precisely what "shocked" means. Very quickly sauteed at high heat?

To shock food means to quickly cool it down, usually by dropping it into a large volume of iced water, right after fetching the food out of a high-heat cooking process. This is done to immediately stop all further cooking from carryover heat. Vegetables especially stay crisp and brightly-colored when you do this. (And you get to splash lots of water all over. :laugh: )

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So, I'm figuring the boys are back to school tomorrow.  What do they do for breakfast?  What part do you play?  What about their lunches during the day?  After school snacks?

And, yes, for $30/lb, I can trim stuff myself, and very well!  My dad grew up butchering meat, so I have have learned how to do it!

Women who can break down their own meat are :cool:

Breakfast is one time of day we can all be sure to have a few minutes together, and I like to cook for whomever wants someething. Most days, it's omelettes or scrambled eggs; I make a pot of oatmeal (McCann's steel cut, which I start in a slow cooker with a timer), or Cream of Wheat, in the cold weather. They also love fresh cake donuts -- I cannot wait to have a reliable oven and refrigerator for overnight proofing so I can start that again.

The high school and middle school have pretty decent lunch programs, with hot and cold choices. It's okay -- just okay -- and it's only one meal a day. They can get food any time of the day; breakfast is served until maybe 9:00.

If they come home immediately after school, they pretty much go after whatever is in the refrigerator. Whatever I've baked or tested during the day is available for them and their friends and if they have a workout or practice, they need to fuel before they go.

"Oh, tuna. Tuna, tuna, tuna." -Andy Bernard, The Office
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Do you have a favourite yellow cake recipe? There's a thread in the Pastry forum where some people have submitted their favourites, and I haven't gotten through testing all of them. Yours looks very good!

When I'm kinda lazy, I use the 1-2-3-4 cake recipe from Classic Home Desserts. I use buttermilk and regular milk (no lemon), and a little extra vanilla, because we looove vanilla. I also use APF to get a slightly denser crumb.

On those rare occasions I'm not lazy, I use a recipe we got in school, which I've scaled down for one, 2-layer cake.

"Oh, tuna. Tuna, tuna, tuna." -Andy Bernard, The Office
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Marinade Recipe:

1/2 cup Soy sauce

2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

Two garlic cloves, smooshed almost into a paste.

Juice of half a lemon.

Shake it all together. Refrigerate.

If you want to use the marinade immediately, replace garlic cloves with granulated garlic (1/2 teaspoon, or to taste).

I keep a bottle of this in the refrigerator; it just doesn't go bad. Strain before using, or be sure to pick garlic bits out before grilling or roasting.

Enjoy! :smile:

"Oh, tuna. Tuna, tuna, tuna." -Andy Bernard, The Office
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Oh -- I'm 48 now and am pretty energetic.  I'll find my place but until then, I'm having fun, staying in touch, and always taking classes and looking for something new.  And that cookbook ... its time will come, too.  :wink:

I'll join you on that plateau in about a month and a half.

Several friends and most of my Pem-Day classmates insist I have a book in me. I suspect they're right, but I haven't figured out how to extract it from the depths of memory yet. I do know this: It will have food in it somewhere, no doubt, but it won't be a cookbook. I don't think I could pull off the neat feat Alice B. Toklas did back in the 1950s when she wrote her autobiography in the form of a collection of recipes.

Edited to add: No, I'm not talking about The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas. That, as I assume you all know, was written by her soulmate Gertrude Stein.

When, Sandy? I'm a November baby. No, really.

MichaelB a Virgo? Nawwwww. :raz: I'd never have guessed!

My life in recipes. Yeah, that's a good idea for the next one. And you just know I'm going to Amazon right now ....

"Oh, tuna. Tuna, tuna, tuna." -Andy Bernard, The Office
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So cool that you went to the Chappaqua Village Market. We're doing a series profiling different neighborhood markets, and that one's next on the list. (I think it might be next week!)

Can I come to the fish market with you? I'm dying to find a good market. Let me guess: Is is Mount Kisco Seafood?

Liz Johnson

Professional:

Food Editor, The Journal News and LoHud.com

Westchester, Rockland and Putnam: The Lower Hudson Valley.

Small Bites, a LoHud culinary blog

Personal:

Sour Cherry Farm.

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So cool that you went to the Chappaqua Village Market. We're doing a series profiling different neighborhood markets, and that one's next on the list. (I think it might be next week!)

Can I come to the fish market with you? I'm dying to find a good market. Let me guess: Is is Mount Kisco Seafood?

You are correct, ma'am! It's one of my favorite places to shop; they used to be in a really small, old building and moved to a newer location up the street. It's a really great place, good people, and I get the most amazing goat cheese there, too. Are you including the Mt. Kisco Farm, too?

Loved the tomato feature, and the apple one today, especially with the chill in the air, makes me happy Fall is here.

Hmm. I have an awful lot to cram into the next few days!

"Oh, tuna. Tuna, tuna, tuna." -Andy Bernard, The Office
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I'll join you on that plateau in about a month and a half.

[...]

When, Sandy? I'm a November baby. No, really.

See my member profile. I actually put some information in mine! :raz:

Let's just say I'm a Libra, Scorpio cusp. Mom and Dad were both Scorpios, as I assume you are too. Care to guess how their marriage turned out?

My life in recipes.  Yeah, that's a good idea for the next one.  And you just know I'm going to Amazon right now ....

The funny thing about The Alice B. Toklas Cook Book is that it is probably better known among a large segment of the public for a recipe that was removed from the first American edition and restored when the book was reissued in the early 1980s with a new foreword by M.F.K. Fisher. (I have a copy of that edition.)

But it is wonderful writing overall, and demonstrates that Toklas could hold her own with Stein when it came to literary prose.

Sandy Smith, Exile on Oxford Circle, Philadelphia

"95% of success in life is showing up." --Woody Allen

My foodblogs: 1 | 2 | 3

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You are correct, ma'am!  It's one of my favorite places to shop; they used to be in a really small, old building and moved to a newer location up the street.  It's a really great place, good people, and I get the most amazing goat cheese there, too.  Are you including the Mt. Kisco Farm, too?

Loved the tomato feature, and the apple one today, especially with the chill in the air, makes me happy Fall is here.

Hmm. I have an awful lot to cram into the next few days!

Lisa's Cheese! I love Lisa's cheese: Rainbeau Ridge.

I'm glad you liked both stories. Thank you. The apple chart is the best, isn't it? I always get confused what apple looks like what and which ones are better for baking, sauce, etc.

Mount Kisco Farm wasn't on the list yet. The criteria are that you have to be able to get dinner there (like chicken breasts or prepared foods) but that you can also run in for little things (like TP or peanut butter with additives and preservatives. :raz:) Does it fit the bill?

Liz Johnson

Professional:

Food Editor, The Journal News and LoHud.com

Westchester, Rockland and Putnam: The Lower Hudson Valley.

Small Bites, a LoHud culinary blog

Personal:

Sour Cherry Farm.

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Let's just say I'm a Libra, Scorpio cusp.  Mom and Dad were both Scorpios, as I assume you are too.  Care to guess how their marriage turned out?
How many kids did they have? :hmmm: My husband and I are polar opposites. I'd have killed someone like me, or at least gone insane.

I don't put stuff in my profile because it harkens back to the old other-web-portal days when people would search them and then start sending me emails ... I know, no freaks on eGullet. Except for Fresser. Have I told you-all about meeting him for coffee and pantyhose shopping? :blink:

The funny thing about The Alice B. Toklas Cook Book is that it is probably better known among a large segment of the public for a recipe that was removed from the first American edition and restored when the book was reissued in the early 1980s with a new foreword by M.F.K. Fisher.  (I have a copy of that edition.)
Sandy, tell me more about this. Intriguing. Maybe it's time to Google again ...
"Oh, tuna. Tuna, tuna, tuna." -Andy Bernard, The Office
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I don't put stuff in my profile because it harkens back to the old other-web-portal days when people would search them and then start sending me emails ... I know, no freaks on eGullet. Except for Fresser.  Have I told you-all about meeting him for coffee and pantyhose shopping? :blink:

I, for one, would love to hear this story.

The funny thing about The Alice B. Toklas Cook Book is that it is probably better known among a large segment of the public for a recipe that was removed from the first American edition and restored when the book was reissued in the early 1980s with a new foreword by M.F.K. Fisher.  (I have a copy of that edition.)
Sandy, tell me more about this. Intriguing. Maybe it's time to Google again ...

I think I know, but I'd like to hear it too!

Has anyone else asked yet for the kitchen plans? If so, I've missed it. I'd like to see what you're doing with your kitchen!

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

Follow us on social media! Facebook; instagram.com/egulletx; twitter.com/egullet

"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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Mount Kisco Farm wasn't on the list yet. The criteria are that you have to be able to get dinner there (like chicken breasts or prepared foods) but that you can also run in for little things (like TP or peanut butter with additives and preservatives. :raz:) Does it fit the bill?

:laugh: I'm sending this link to my husband right now!

The Farm has everything but the dinner-to-go. A little sushi is it. It's really a treasure of a place.

"Oh, tuna. Tuna, tuna, tuna." -Andy Bernard, The Office
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Had lots to do this morning, so that grilled cheese sandwich in duck fat that Sandy spoke of earlier was it for me. Yep, this is yellow cheddar (Land O'Lakes, I think!), and the tomatoes are from my neighbor's garden.

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It really was terrific and just what I needed. We keep a loaf of Pepperidge Farm white bread for such occasions :smile:

I'm going to add shots of things I use often, just so you can see what I do and how I teach and learn. An example is this set of knives. Whenever I bring them out to a class, they oooh and aaaah ... I could probably sell them in class. Women love them because they're colorful and light and easy to handle. They hold their edges well, too. For me, they're not heavy-duty enough to use for production, but for teaching, they're perfect. They don't intimidate students like a big Shun! (Of course, every time I bring my 12-chef, someone picks it up and starts waving it around and trying to use it. Every single time. :blink: )

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From the left:

-Serrated knife. It's outstanding and so sharp that the thin blade doesn't matter.

-Meat knife. It's 6" long, and okay. Just okay.

-Veg knife: Again, okay. I like the depth of the heel, and the fact that there's no bolster makes it easier on my hands. Sometimes.

-Granton-edge knife. Nothing will come near my granton Mac. But I have this anyway.

-Fish knife., this has such a short blade that I can't use it for breaking down anything bigger than a rouget. The blade is very thin but not flexible, and it works well for dicing or cutting in batonnet, for sushi.

-Tomato knife. I don't like this at all! I have a 5" serrated edge Global that does a really great job. This is too small; the handle is too short, and there's not enough serration on the edge to prep anything bigger than a roma. And I have a serrated paring knife that does a better job, too.

If anyone has any comments about these or has worked with them, let me know.

I also have what I think of as moderate knives, and knives that stay in the kitchen drawers, and then my favorites that no one touches. More on that later.

"Oh, tuna. Tuna, tuna, tuna." -Andy Bernard, The Office
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Has anyone else asked yet for the kitchen plans?  If so, I've missed it.  I'd like to see what you're doing with your kitchen!

Yeppers, they have! I'm going to get some photos of the current kitchen and post them first. Then, the plans. I'm so excited about this I can hardly breathe!

"Oh, tuna. Tuna, tuna, tuna." -Andy Bernard, The Office
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I'm breathless waiting for the Nana wall. And I'm hoping you tell me it's wonderful for when we do the next house. The paper is going to do some follow-up to the original story, yes?

Wish I could go to the market with you and Liz, but have to work <boo>. Maybe the two of you could drive up here and bring some treats? I'm awfully hungry right now.

"I'm not looking at the panties, I'm looking at the vegetables!" --RJZ
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MichaelB a Virgo? Nawwwww.  :raz:  I'd never have guessed!

Worse, even. A left-handed Virgo.

OK, I am essentially out of here until Saturday. I am off to two and a half fun-filled days of cooking in large quantities. I might get a chance to look in once or twice but probably not. Feel free to make fun of the lawyer playing chef on his birthday all you want.

Oh, and I drove by Ron's Roost last night. No camera; no battery even if I had it.

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Hey, we found another of the Mystery Squashes today -- Jean-Luc was playing with it.  Here's a photo; the pock marks are from his teeth. 

gallery_28661_3538_4210.jpg

We thought for a while it was a pumpkin, but now we're not sure.

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Ciao Ms.Babe!! When I'm not here in the "Old Country", we live in Katonah. This will be fun for me to see the area thru your eyes!

Short story: if you plant the squash too close to the zucchini you get what you see above. I remember my mother staring in despair at bright yellow cucumbers that had 'copulated ' with the nearby yellow squash, and saying, "But this is a Catholic garden...you can't do that!" :laugh:

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The paper is going to do some follow-up to the original story, yes?

Yes! I was hoping we'd get more questions-and-answers on our forum, but that seems to have died off. (Posts with no responses get deleted after about a month.) Maybe if we revive the story we can start over.

Maybe the two of you could drive up here and bring some treats?

OK it's a date. When's the fish market trip?

Liz Johnson

Professional:

Food Editor, The Journal News and LoHud.com

Westchester, Rockland and Putnam: The Lower Hudson Valley.

Small Bites, a LoHud culinary blog

Personal:

Sour Cherry Farm.

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Let's just say I'm a Libra, Scorpio cusp.  Mom and Dad were both Scorpios, as I assume you are too.  Care to guess how their marriage turned out?
How many kids did they have? :hmmm: My husband and I are polar opposites. I'd have killed someone like me, or at least gone insane.

Two: Me and my younger brother, born nine years later. I've come to the conclusion that Sean was a last-ditch effort on Dad's part to "save the marriage." (I only found out years later that Mom concluded she had made a mistake as soon as she married him in 1954, four years before I arrived on the scene.) I occasionally joke that I come from a family of two only children.

I don't put stuff in my profile because it harkens back to the old other-web-portal days when people would search them and then start sending me emails ... I know, no freaks on eGullet. Except for Fresser.  Have I told you-all about meeting him for coffee and pantyhose shopping? :blink:

That wouldn't surprise me at all. Do tell! Inquiring minds want to know!

The funny thing about The Alice B. Toklas Cook Book is that it is probably better known among a large segment of the public for a recipe that was removed from the first American edition and restored when the book was reissued in the early 1980s with a new foreword by M.F.K. Fisher.  (I have a copy of that edition.)
Sandy, tell me more about this. Intriguing. Maybe it's time to Google again ...

Sure thing! Wikipedia explains it all for you:

After the death of Gertrude Stein in 1946, Miss Toklas published her own literary memoir, a 1954 book that mixed reminiscences and recipes under the title The Alice B. Toklas Cookbook. The most famous recipe therein (actually contributed by her friend Brion Gysin) was called "Hashisch Fudge", a mixture of fruit, nuts, spices, and "canibus sativa" [sic].

This lent her name to the range of cannabis concoctions called Alice B. Toklas brownies. The cookbook has not been out of print since it was published. A second cookbook followed in 1958 called "Aromas and Flavors of Past and Present," however Toklas did not approve of it as it had been heavily annotated by Poppy Cannon, an editor from House Beautiful magazine. She also wrote articles for several magazines and newspapers including The New Republic and the New York Times.

And I learned something else here: it turns out that there is a real autobiography of Alice B. Toklas. Titled "What Is Remembered," it was published in 1963. Her book ends abruptly with Stein's death in 1946, which speaks volumes about what Toklas thought of her own life apart from Stein's.

Edited to add: I made Alice B. Toklas brownies once, in 1981, for a party I was hosting.

Edited by MarketStEl (log)

Sandy Smith, Exile on Oxford Circle, Philadelphia

"95% of success in life is showing up." --Woody Allen

My foodblogs: 1 | 2 | 3

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The Mt. Kisco Farm market is commonly referred to, in our household, as the "Sixty Dollar Store". They have a great selection of vegetables...but, watch, no matter what you buy, or think you are running in there for, you spend $60.

Mt. Kisco Seafood is a great place....the new store doesn't have that challenging parking lot. I always felt like I was playing a game of Tetris (does anyone still remember Tetris??) trying to get in and out of there. These are good people who work hard, its nice to see them expanding.

Have you been to La Tulipe, the patisserie down the street? It is by far one of the best places around. Those cheesy-cracker things should be listed as a controlled substance!

Is corn season over? How was it?? Its been 2 years since I've had corn. That's a sad story, isn't it??

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