It's pickling season again, & if you still want a recipe, this is mine, adapted from the old Sunset Favorite Recipes:

I large watermelon
Pickling lime solution to cover (proportion as directed on package; if you use the Asian lime/chuna, about 1 t. to 4 or 5 c. water is about right; you might want to experiment first, b/'c once it firms up, it is staying firm)
2 c. cider vinegar
7 c. sugar (the organic cane sugar at Costco is dynamite)
1 T. whole cloves
A few cinnamon sticks
[A large chunk of peeled fresh ginger if you like it]
More whole cloves

Take off all the red flesh & eat it. Peel the tough green outer skin off & discard. Cut rind into rectangles, diamonds, or fancy shapes. Don't make them too small -- they shrink a bit. Soak the pieces for several hours or overnight in lime solution to cover -- again, if you don't have a package with quantities given, do a test first, or risk tough pickles. Rinse well & soak in fresh cold water for an hour. Drain. Put rind in a large non-reactive pan, cover with boiling water, & simmer until tender. Drain. In the same non-reactive pan, make a syrup from the 7 c. sugar and 2 c. cider vinegar. Add the cinnamon sticks, the tablespoon of whole cloves, & the ginger (if you like it), all tied up in a muslin bag, cheesecloth, or clean white cotton handkerchief (or a really big steel mesh tea ball, if you have one). Taste the syrup & add salt if you think it needs it -- the original recipe called for a salt soak, not lime, so I do add a bit here. Bring it all to a boil & add the drained rind. Simmer gently, uncovered, until it is translucent -- bring a book & a chair, b/c it takes a while. Stir it now & then. Remove the spice package & discard. Let rind sit in syrup 24 hours -- room temperature is OK, unless your kitchen is really boiling hot, but cover well in case of gnats etc. Next day, sterilize your jars. Stick a whole clove in each piece of cooked rind. [Enlist help at this point if you can; it is a very sticky business.] Put the rind pieces in the jars. Bring the syrup to a boil & pour over the rind to about 1/4 inch from top. Wipe rims & seal. Process 5 minutes for half pints, 10 for pints.
This is a lot of work but it makes a lot of pickles, & for what it's worth, I've won blue ribbons the last three years with this recipe. They keep very well -- if the seal is intact, no need to refrigerate, but store them away from light.

Or Mrs. Wages online: http://store.mrswagesstore.com/mrswagpiclim.html

Ball, which used to carry it, has some alternative pickling granule stuff that I haven't tried:
http://www.freshpreservingstore.com/b...

Bad news. We went this past weekend, after calling in advance to make sure that Ma Sophie was there (they assured us she was). When we got there, we were told that they no longer have any Burmese food (or Thai -- entire menu was Chinese). It looked like they had just had some sort of grand opening, judging from the rather festive potted plants out front.

I got Yuzana brand, which never tested positive for Auramine O even when the other brands did, although I have heard that the other manufacturers' leaves no longer contain it. Didn't bother getting the other ingredients -- fried peas etc. -- since I can do those at home. Just wonderful. Mumshouse in the UK also carries the leaves, & if you look back & forth between the sites, you can pretty much tell what is what (labels seem to be in Burmese only).

There is someone in Woodside/Sunnyside who sells the leaves; I got some from them last year. Apparently Auramine O (the toxic dye found in several brands before) is no longer used. Yuzana brand never tested positive for it anyhow, so that's what we got, just in case. I have no idea whether or not it can be legally imported again.

We called this evening to make sure that Ma Sophie was cooking tonight & were assured that she was. When we got there, we found that Excellent Thai is, apparently, no longer Thai, let alone Burmese. Signage & entire menu were in Chinese (although the parking lot in back still said it was for Excellent Thai), & there were a number of potted plants/flowers out in front, some with cards on them -- looked like "best wishes" on a new restaurant, perhaps? The people there told my husband that they were "the same restaurant" but no longer had any Burmese food; the menu had no Thai food, either. We didn't stay. Anyone know anything?

Heard or read somewhere -- of course now I can't find it -- that it was going to be in September this year. Has not happened yet, anyhow.

Nothing that I know of by you, but these folks (in NY) will do mail order & have a good selection, if that's any help:

http://store.minthila.com/myanmarfood...

We are in a raw dairy buyers' group -- direct from the farm. The sour cream is astonishingly good. I gave some to a friend who, like me, had had raw dairy sometimes when growing up & was not squeamish about it. Her boyfriend was horrified. Loudly horrified. Then he went ahead & tried it. When she turned around, he had eaten half a pint & was still going strong.
But for some reason I haven't tried salting it -- I know what I'm having tomorrow.

Frozen peas (& frozen corn, too) are amazing summer snacks, standing or sitting. (I've never known anyone else to eat either. This is why I love this site.)
Worcestershire sauce, straight up. Also Pickapeppa. Also Tamcon (tamarind concentrate). Oh, if someone is looking, I'll dip a carrot or something in, but right from a spoon ... yes.
And a very crunchy-granola former roommate used to put tamari & nutritional yeast on her popcorn. Looked gross, tasted fantastic.

Why did no one ever send me a CARE package like that when I was in college?

However, I did just send two friends some cock flavored soup packets about a month ago. Time does not bring maturity.

They did have tea salad this year & I think either the year before or the one before that. This year's was terrific; we binged on it & then got several more containers to go (for next day & for one of my co-workers); the lady who was making it kindly left the to-go portions unmixed so that it didn't get soggy. I have to admit that we had one of the Styrofoam containers open before we were halfway home.

I think the ground meat was goat, perhaps. At least that's what DH thought (didn't have any myself, but he loved it).

If the leaves are big enough, they make a nice wrapper for rice balls.

The Dok Suni cookbook has a recipe for pickling Korean perilla in a combination of soy sauce, ground sesame seeds (toast in a sesame seed roaster before grinding, or very carefully in a pan -- they burn easily), red pepper, sesame oil, a bit of sugar, salt, garlic & green onion (think that's it) -- you put some of the marinade in a container & stack the leaves on it, spreading more marinade on each as you do, & put it in the fridge for a day or so. This is fantastic with just plain rice.

But all of you who have too much shiso, please tell me what you did to make it grow so abundantly -- this year, planted the red (which I can never find at the market) indoors under lights & outdoors in a friend's yard, & although it came up quickly, it is taking forever, indoors & out, to produce decent-sized leaves. What are we doing wrong? Mint, in the same outdoor yard, just about took over the world last year; does shiso need different treatment?

Myanmar Baptist Church's 16th Annual Fun Fair this Saturday, August 13th: http://www.mbcnewyork.org/Funfair.html

Going to eat tea salad etc. until it comes out our eyes.

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Myanmar Baptist Church
143-55 84th Dr, Queens, NY 11435

But I should add: when I do share a recipe with someone who actually makes it, & hear "we had your pie/chutney/pickles/whatever the other day," it is very satisfying, in a Passing on the Old Rugged Traditional Mysteries sort of way.

Of course I treasure mine, & I've got them stuck into books, carefully put in plastic sleeves in binders, copied onto 3x5 cards, bookmarked online, typed up & saved to My Documents, & in my head -- often the same one more than once, so that I can find it when I need it (I'm talking to YOU, strawberry pie & persimmon pudding). As for sharing them, I love to, but I am not from NY, & the following generally happens:

1. Friend (native NY'er) says, "I love this, you have to tell me how to make it, I can't wait to do it."

2. I write a detailed email (& re-write & re-read, to make sure I haven't forgotten anything -- having had a great-grandmother who "forgot" key ingredients or steps, so that we still can't make some of the recipes she gave my mother at her marriage work, don't want to do that).

3. I send it.

4. Next time I see friend, friend says, "Oh, I saw that, but it looks like way too much work. I never do that kind of thing. You can just make it for me again."

Someday I'll learn.

Laphet leaves used to be available in one store on Mulberry St. downtown, I believe, but since several brands were found to be contaminated with a carcinogenic dye a year or so ago, they are banned here. There is a supplier in the UK if you feel like chancing it; they do ship to the US. You can do something similar with soaked green tea leaves -- a friend in Japan does this -- but it is nowhere near as good, unfortunately. Me, I'll take the risk.

My mother always chilled the beaters & bowl, but we didn't have air conditioning & it got quite hot in her kitchen in Maryland summers. I don't bother, but I do have the cream very cold.

We have used raw cream off the farm that was nearly solid & had to be scooped out of the bottle, like English double cream; it took almost no time. Pasteurized heavy or whipping cream (I think those might be the same thing?) needs beating a bit longer. Just watch carefully -- it happens fast.

I use superfine sugar usually, but granulated is fine. If you keep a stash of either kind in a tightly sealed jar with a vanilla bean or two (the leathery shells after you scrape out the seeds into another cooking project still have lots of scent & work fine), you don't even need to add vanilla extract. And I agree with the poster who suggested almond extract; just a tiny amount is wonderful.

When DH & I were at the dating stage & he was saying "what are you doing that for?" all the time (he thought that microwave pizza was serious cooking), he had a fit when I went to make proper whipped cream instead of getting the canned spray fluff. Then he ate some & just radiated happiness. Instant conversion!

If you do accidentally create butter or near-butter, it is fine next day on waffles.

(Lemon juice doesn't stabilize whipped cream, but some people do use it or cream of tartar when making meringue -- could that be what the original poster was thinking of?)

As for parking in Jackson Heights, weekends are probably worse than weekdays, but the whole area around 74th Street is mostly jammed -- trucks unloading, people double-parking or trying to pull their SUVs into spaces where they will never fit, pedestrians jaywalking, etc. DH is generally thought to have Parking Space Superpowers -- he can find street parking anywhere -- but even he has a tough time there. There is a parking lot on 75th St. between Roosevelt & 37th Avenue (75th is two-way there, with a median strip, & I can't recall which side the lot is on, sorry); it is fairly small but there is plenty of turnover.

I live in JH & agree that it's great for shopping & snacks, but not for dinner. If you have a car, & are willing to go a bit further, try Jaipore in Brewster (280 Route 22, Brewster, NY. 10509,
(845) 277-3549). A friend who's originally from Chennai & goes back home yearly took me there the first time, & didn't I have to turn up my stupid snobby nose at the idea of a buffet. I have never been so happy to be proved wrong. The building is also quite elegant (& has an interesting history -- it's been a judge's house &, according to my friend, later became a brothel, though you might not want to mention that to your guests before they eat). I haven't been out there for a while; maybe someone else has?

Thank you! (Late reply but haven't been on the boards lately.) Off to search.

Bacon, pork chops, ham -- I stopped eating meat at age 13, back in the Dark Ages, & I still find them tempting. Especially bacon. Please, scientists, grow me some pork in a test tube ... .

There's also the forbidden fruit aspect, if your friend has not tried pig before b/c it was taboo for religious or cultural regions. A Muslim friend who grew up in Pakistan said that a Christian classmate in high school (this was some decades ago, when the minority communities were larger) went hunting & shot a wild boar; his mother cooked it & quite a number of classmates, mostly Muslim, including my friend, snuck over to see what it was all about. He said it was the most delicious thing he ever ate in his life, mostly b/c he felt so wicked doing it. When he came to the US & pork was available everywhere, he never bothered to eat it again.

Now I wonder what would have happened if he'd had alcohol too!

Seriously, though, bacon, or better yet Canadian bacon, since the fattiness of pork turns some people off (hey, I may not eat it but I still cook it & I know what is never left over). Then 'cue. Then ham. Then plainer porky things (very garlicky roast pork, maybe?).

As for the sake, does he drink alcohol at all, & if so, does he prefer sweeter or drier wines/cocktails?

Old thread but why not ...

Plums. They look beautiful at the farmers' market every year. I even make plum jam sometimes (for other people to eat). And I try eating one every year & ... no.

Grapes & raisins (can just about stand a decently dry chewy raisin, but large squishy sultanas & any raisins cooked to pulpy awfulness in things, please no). I liked grapes as a child but somewhere in adolescence my tastes changed.

It occurs to me now that I stopped liking grapes when I started liking wine. Maybe I just felt they were not living up to their potential?

Tobiko & ikura. (But I like osetra & sevruga caviar now & again.)

Until last month, I'd have said dried apricots, but then I encountered a Greek/Middle Eastern/Eastern European deli that sells squares of pistachio nougat sandwiched (or rather bookended) in dried apricot (about 4 or 5 parts nougat to 1 part apricot), & the combination is amazing.

Thank you so much for this -- I've been making the Chinatown run but this is way closer (I'm in Jackson Heights). I know where I'll be tomorrow.

That photo made me drool on my keyboard ...

I peel it & cut it in chunks or slices & roast it at around 350 with some (rather larger) chunks of peeled beet, a bit of olive oil, & coarse salt & pepper (& rosemary if I remember) until the outsides are almost leathery & the insides are tender. Used to do a bunch of various root vegetables together, but found that those two went together beautifully & were by far my favorite: the nuttiness of the celery root & the sweetness of the beets.

OK, so now I know what I'm eating this weekend. It's been too long.

ARRGH why do I not search for "Burmese" on this board more often? Can't believe I missed it. Am idiot.

Since Burmese Cafe closed we have been longing for lephet & I can't even find the ingredients to make it at home (there used to be a place near DC that did mail order, but the site is down). We did make it to the one at the church in August, I think it was, & were closer to chowhogs than chowhounds -- ate something from each booth if we possibly could & then got another round to take home & were heartbroken when we finished that up the next day.

Does anyone know where to get the fermented tea leaves?

And now that it's Chili Chicken, it is absolutely awful. We've tried twice (carryout) b/c we liked Rice Avenue. Never again.

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Chili Chicken
72-19 Roosevelt Ave, Queens, NY 11372

So you thrust your barbecue forks through its neck? Could be useful if you grill on Halloween.

Incidentally, I did one of these myself this year. My mother is a fiend for gumdrops & jellybeans & the like, & no longer can be bothered to put up any kind of Christmas tree, so as a fun thing I sent her a gumdrop tree -- a frame on which you stick gumdrops. Unfortunately the two very large packages of gumdrops got there before the frame did, & by the time it arrived ... I should have caught on by the muffled tone of her voice every time we spoke.