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Showing posts from May, 2007

Orbiting Gourmet Style

The meal was shared by the six people onboard the station on April 12, the anniversary of the first human trip into orbit--made by Yuri Gagarin in 1961. The crew gathered in the Russian Service module, which is the social center of the complex. And as the diners orbited the Earth at 17,000 miles an hour, they spent a hour or more enjoying the duck pâté and roast quail, as well as rice pudding and apple fondant for dessert. Mr. Simonyi described it as a "festive" occasion. So much for freeze-dried ice cream, which we kids deemed a treat in the 70's when we could lay our hands on it. Here's the whole story .

Every Picture Tells a Story

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Although, in this case, you need to go check out the explanation at Barcelona Photoblog for this Fideua, the pasta version of widely known rice paella.

Mom's New York Cheesecake

I think I remember Mom saying that this recipe is an amalgamation of pieces she put together to recreate her favorite cheesecake. I tend to prefer a graham cracker crust but am leaving her crust here for those who do not as it is quite tasty as well. Step 1: 1/2 cup butter, softened 1/4 cup sugar 1 egg yolk 1 cup sifted flour 1/4 teaspoon lemon rind 1/4 teaspoon vanilla Make the crust: Preheat oven to 400°. Cream butter and sugar, add egg yolk. Then add other ingredients. Pat 1/3 of dough in bottom of a 10-inch springform pan. Cook for 6 minutes, cool completely. Meanwhile, raise oven temperature to 475°. Butter sides of pan and put remaining dough around the sides of the pan. Crust will only come up 1/3 of the sides of the pan. Step 2: 2-1/2 pounds cream cheese 5 eggs 3 tablespoons flour 1-3/4 cups sugar 1 teaspoon lemon rind 1/4 teaspoon vanilla 1/4 teaspoon salt 2 egg yolks 1/4 cup cream Make th

I Hear Ya, Sistah

Tonight at the dinner table, Gabrielle put down her fork, pushed away her empty plate, and sighed. She closed her eyes briefly before looking at me thoughtfully. "I just weally ... weally like gravy," she said. Danielle Bean I'd say, "Who doesn't?" except that Hannah eschews it. Silly, silly girl!

Mom's Tortellini Salad

Looking through here I seriously cannot believe that I haven't put this recipe out there for everyone to try. It is a consistent favorite with everyone who tries it. My mother came across it long ago in a restaurant magazine. Naturally, it was provided with quantities for buffet brunch servings so she had to tinker with it to get it just right for family portions. Step 1: 1 cup mayonnaise 1 cup yogurt 3 cloves garlic, minced 2 tablespoons lemon juice 1 tablespoon oil ½ bunch parsley Process all ingredients in food processor until well mixed. Step 2: 1 pound frozen cheese tortellini Cook tortellini until tender. Cool quickly and toss with dressing. It will seem as if there is too much dressing but don't worry, it thickens up. Cool overnight.

Well Said

From my quote journal. When I write of hunger, I am really writing about love and the hunger for it, and warmth and the love of it and it is all one. M.F.K. Fisher

"I have been wanting to ask you ..."

My family and I saw the seasons pass in the valley. The children went to the local school, where they learned along with the three R's how to trap and skin rabbits, how to stake pastures to hold the forest's hogs, and how to mend a hand-drawn threshing sled made to a design unchanged since the Iron Age. With Maria's advice and under her tutelage we acquired a donkey, a kitchen garden, and a household pig -- the last, I stipulated, only if Maria helped me at its final hour. The pig thrived mightily on the scraps from my kitchen. Finally, on a late October day deemed suitable, the moon being in the right quarter and the pig having been fattened to the correct weight on acorns from the surrounding cork oaks, Maria's husband and brother-in-law arrived at sunrise to prepare for the dreaded event. Soon afterwards Maria, her cousins, and her mother appeared to help with the kitchen labor. The children were packed off to school early, and all day we worked salting hams, seasoni

Rubik's Cube Cake

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Now that's a fun cake! Via Neatorama .

Fake Flavorings Really Are Hazardous to Your Health

The workers, by and large, have been young and healthy. None were smokers, and none had any history of lung disease. But after working at plants that produce food flavorings, they all had one thing in common: they could not breathe. Over the last several years, California health officials have been tracking a handful of workers in flavoring factories who have been incapacitated with a rare, life-threatening lung condition — bronchiolitis obliterans — for which there is no cure or treatment. Usually found only in people who are poisoned by chemical fires or chemical warfare or in lung transplant patients, bronchiolitis obliterans renders its victims unable to exert even a little energy without becoming winded or faint. “The airways to the lung have been eaten up,” said Barbara Materna, the chief of the occupational health branch in the California Department of Health Services. “They can’t work anymore, and they can’t walk a short distance without severe shortness of breath." ... In

Now Serving Hot LInks

OWNING CHINESE STIR-FRY Barbara at Tigers & Strawberries is posting a step by step primer on Chinese stir fry basics ... you may never have to use a recipe again! THE KITCHEN DIARIES One of my very favorite readable cookbooks is The Kitchen Diaries by Nigel Slater. Culinate has a good review. ADS VERSUS REALITY The prettied-up ad photos of fast food versus the real thing are shown here . We already knew this but it's still a good reminder about just how much "truth" we are shown in advertising when it comes to food. Via Darwin Catholic . FOOD AND WINE MATCHER Wine Matcher is an interesting concept. It’s an easy-to-use interactive tool, covering everyday meals as well as tough matches such as spicy dishes or desserts. Check it out.

A Small Town in Louisiana and Some Boudin

The Pig Stand was a white cinder block building with hand-written signs telling you what they offered and a couple of windows to order the food. The people on the sidewalk were mostly thin guys with crepey skin and women with pale skin and loose upper arms from eating too much deep-fried food. Everybody was drinking Dixie beer and eating off paper plates and laughing a lot. Guess if you had to stand around eating barbecued ribs in this kind of heat you had to have a sense of humor. An enormously wide black woman with brilliant white teeth looked out of the order window at me and said, "Take ya awdah, please?" I said, "Do you have boudin ?" I had wanted to try boudin for years. She grinned. "Honey, we gots the best boudin in Evangeline Parish." "That's not what they say in Mamou." She laughed. "Those fools in Mamou don' know nuthin' 'boud no boudin ! Honey, you try some'a this, you won't be goin' back to no Mamou

Kitchen Essential: Butterbell

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Siggy went looking for a Butterbell and found this post lingering back in my archives. As he wrote, "It is high time for a repost!" BUTTER BELL This is the best thing going for keeping butter soft without refrigeration. It works even in the middle of a Dallas summer, although I do change the water every day or so when it is hot outside. You pack the butter into the "bell" part while the other section is about 1/4 full of water. The water creates an airtight seal around the bell when both pieces are together. Thanks to the butter bell we always have soft butter for our bread! I have seen these available at King Arthur Flour, Sur la Table, and Butter Bell , the original purveyors.

When Wine and Movies Merge

Educating Peter: How I Taught a Famous Movie Critic the Difference Between Cabernet and Merlot or How Anybody Can Become an (Almost) Instant Wine Expert by Lettie Teague "That sounds a lot like phylloxera," I replied. Phylloxera is a tiny insect related to the aphid and a native of North America that can destroy entire vineyards, if not wine regions. It was responsible for the devastation of nearly all of Bordeaux in the latest nineteenth century. By the time the Bordelais had figured out what had happened, almost nothing was left of their vines. "Phylloxera sounds a lot like what happens when Jerry Bruckheimer gets involved in a movie," commented Peter. Can a man obsessed with "fatty Chardonnay" for less than $10 a bottle be taught to appreciate wine? That is the challenge which Lettie Teague must master when she begins teaching her wine-challenged friend, Peter, about the "Facts of Wine." Peter, a film critic for Rolling Stone, has a tendency t

When The McCartney's Come to Lunch. Yes, Those McCartneys.

Nigel Slater discovers that, for one thing, Paul makes a really ripping salad dressing.