WNYamateur's Profile
Dining-In vs Take-Out
Empty-nesters here - this is eaisier to decide since it's now only the two of us.
It's mostly about how we want to spend our time. At the end of an eventful day, we love to sit in a restaurant and talk, and let someone else tke care of avery thing else. But on some busy days when there's not time to cook and no handy leftovers, we pick up and go home to catch up on the backlog on the DVR.
A question about Banana Split Sundaes ... or really a question about the banana in sundaes
I think you're way overthinking this. The average purveyor and consumer of a banana split are following tradition without regard to culinary sensibilities.
How can I transform my thighs?
Bone 'em. I't's not hard, and pretty much self-explanatory. Pretty soon, you'll be able to do a pkg full in no time. Then
- marinate & grill them (outdoors or grill pan)
- pound them flat, grill them plain or treat like scallopine
- pound, roll, brown, roast. We roll them with ham, sage & cheese for saltimbocca
Michelle Obama Judges 'Top Chef' Collaboration with Dallas Students
Reality Blurred says it's a TC spinoff called Life After Chef: http://www.realityblurred.com/realitytv/archives/life_after_chef/2012_Feb_10_michelle-obama-spin-off
Adults that have been "sheltered" from cooking?
My dad was in food service - mostly mgmt, some hands-on - but wisely left the home kitchen predominately to Mom.
But one of the things I adored about him was that he always volunteered for the most labor-intensive tasks: peeling/deveining shrimp, prepping veg, etc. He'd say to Mom: "I'll peel apples if you'll make a pie".
He lived to 90, she to 95. I miss them both.
original Valentine gift for my girlfriend?
So is there a reason you post the question to CH'ers?
How Often Do You Use Recipes?
Two totally diferent mindsets.
My sister considers herself a competent musician because she can play or sing from sheet music. I'm more the play-by-ear, feel-your-way type. I'm the more original cook; she's still using some of Mom's recipes.
We're both putting out good food, and good music. The difference is in personal goals & talents.
Cincinnati chili has no kidney beans?
Boiled ground beef sounds like an unsavory gray pulp to me.
Cincinnati chili has no kidney beans?
i've never had authentic Cincinnatti chili, but Step One alone makes me extremely wary: boil (not brown) ground beef.
Pork Butt (No pulled pork, BBQ or smoked recipes)
Also from Chiarello - Forever Roasted Pork:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/michael-chiarello/forever-roasted-pork-recipe/index.html
We love this one - GF requested a "do-over" last weekend.
any ideas for smoking something new/unusual?
When I'm smoking with hickory, I halve a couple of big onions - leave the skin on - smoke them for a couple of hours, then peel them. Smoking with the skin on saves the outer layers of the onion from charring.
I keep these in the freezer to use as a starter for vegetarian dishes, e.g. soups or bean filling for Tex-Mex.
Any foodie book gift ideas?
Not true; besides, what non-masochistic guy would crush on a woman with such confused "affectional preferences"?
I found myself shaking my head throughout at just how good the writing was.
Bringing your own food to a dinner party
There's a lot of speculation here about motivation, and about what should be overlooked for the sake of the family and/or holiday. But I think there are common-sense rules that trump all of that:
1. This is your home. You are allowed to set house rules. And to enforce them, but no one who puts you in that situation should be considered a good guest - or a repeat guest.
2. Invitees who don't like the house rules should either put up or decline the invitation.
3. If the invitees refuses to do either one, it's certainly within your right not to invite them.
That makes for a more enjoyable, and certainly less dramatic, day for everyone, and leaves little room for argument: questioning the offender's motivation - or yours - is moot.
Help with my cornbread recipe, please!
Epicurious has a recipe for sweet potato cornbread. They originally developed it for stuffing, but it's now our go-to mix for everything: cornbread, muffins, stuffing.
It's the moistness and richness that attracted me in the first place, but I love the color, too. And just the sound of the name!!
Coffee fruit dip
Looking for a long-lost coffee-flavored dip for fruit - went something like this:
Mix:
coffee (coffee liqueur?)
orange juice concentrate
honey
beaten egg (yolk only?)
Cook over low heat (double boiler?) until thick, cool, fold into whipped cream.
Does anyone still have it? Thanks.
"Continental breakfast" for Thanksgiving morning
Oooh - that's enough to talk me out of homemade!
"Continental breakfast" for Thanksgiving morning
The kids & SOs (all 20s - total 4 or 5) will all be home by late Wednesday night; we'll take Thanksgiving dinner to Grandma's at noon. So the kitchen will be busy all morning, and the kids will rise hungry at God-only-knows-what-time.
So we're planning a "continental breakfast" in the dining room, to be flexible about time and keep the traffic out of the kitchen but still do right by the special day and the rare chance to have everyone here.
We're planning bagels, homemade lemon blueberry muffins, and fruit. But we're stuck on another good homemade breadstuff that is simple enough to showcase homemade apple butter and strawberry jam, but can be served at room temperature and doesn't need to be toasted. We could put it together either Wednesday night or early Thursday morning.
Any suggestions?
What Are Your Irrefutable Food Rules? [moved from Not About Food]
Nothing served as "salad" should require a knife to eat. Make an exception for a wedge of iceberg if you like that sort of thing, but any time I have to use a knife in a salad, I think that somebody in the kitchen's getting lazy.
Giving Ground Turkey Another Chance - What Brand?
Ground turkey breast, or 99% lean, is not for me - too easily dried out and not enough flavor. We buy 94% lean and make turkey burgers.
To me, the secret to the burger is not to pretend it's beef - season it like it's poultry (e.g. sage).
Left-handers - how do you handle your cutlery?
Wow - this lefty is with you 100% on the guitar use & wisdom. But there's an opposing view that says your "voice" comes out in how you pick the string, so your dominant hand should do it.
There was a similar thread a few months ago - only then did I realize that I use a kitchen knife in my left hand and a table knife in my right hand!
Food pairing website?
+1 on The Flavor Bible - I love this book, and use it constantly.
Carla (Top Chef), Mario, Michael Symon and others on new daytime show
Gordon hosted "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" maybe 10-20 years ago, then hosted on Food Network, now produces shows for FN. Credited with "discovering" Paula Deen.
Getting a six-pack delivered to a home in Buffalo
NYS liquor stores can deliver, but they can't sell beer.
