KailuaGirl's Profile
Reducing sugar in sweet and sour cabbage
Have you considered Stevia/Truvia? I use it in coffee but have yet to try it with baking or cooking. I love the balsamic vinegar suggestion! I usually use red wine vinegar, but will try the switch to balsamic and see what happens.
Around the World in 80 Plates [Split from Top Chef thread]
Thanks, Linda! You're the best.
Chevin Kevin is really a pain! He's a cheese specialist, a sommelier, what isn't he?! It didn't seem that his "knowledge" added much to their challenges. I was pleased with the woman who won tonight. She made the food, it was the favorite of all the diners, she deserved the win. Good for her. I thought Chaz was being a petulant baby about the win, and the way she stood up for herself when talking about the decision to reduce the portion size in his dish. I was sorry to see the loser, though, since she probably has a lot to add when they start hitting Asia.
If the pendulum keeps going in the way it has from last week to this it might end up being a good show. Herding sheep was just plain silly, but identifying cheeses and wines were definitely food stuff. I would have liked to hear more about those cheeses and wines, though. Maybe pairing the wines with cheeses as opposed to, or in addition to, matching them with their sources. I'll keep watching for now...
Le Creuset dilemma
I got my set in cobalt because blue is my favorite color and the cobalt is so gorgeous. I figure that I can add to the set in white or red if I need any more dutch ovens. Also, as someone else said, there's a;ways ebay or Craigslist.
What are you baking these days? April 2012 [old]
A few days ago I had some bananas that were slightly overripe so made 2 loaves of banana bread - one loaf with mac nuts, the other with pecans. Strawberries were on sale so I got a bunch and made the strawberry pie from Joy of Cooking. We served the strawberry pie with whipped cream and it was quite good. When I got up this morning about half the leftovers had been consumed for breakfast by the early risers.
98-year-old needs to gain weight, doesn't eat enough: Food suggestions
I used Ensure to make my father fruit smoothies. Instead of ice, which would have watered them down, I used frozen sliced bananas. For the purported health benefits, I also used some pommegranet juice. He loved the smoothies! Even when hospitalized I had to bring them to him. The nurses would keep the extra in their own freezer for him.
On medical marijuana, many legal distributors also sell baked goods such as brownies. Just make sure that they are CLEARLY labelled so no one else eats any by mistake. I kept my Dad's, labelled in big CAPS, in a separate freezer in the garage so the kids wouldn't see them and try to sneak any.
Cooking hash browns: a side-by-side method comparison
My brother makes the best hash browns I've ever eaten! He grates the Russets on a box grater, spreads them out thin on paper towels, places other paper towels on top of them, lets them sit a few minutes, then presses down to squeeze out the moisture. He fries them up in a little vegetable oil (unless we have bacon grease) in a regular old skillet (from a set of Revereware that my Mom got for a wedding present about 60 years ago). Nice, golden, crunchy on the outside, warm and cooked through on the inside. And absolutely out of this world!
Top Chef Texas Finale Part 2 - Ep. #17 - 02/29/12 (Spoilers)
Thanks for a great article! I'm even more convinced that the right person won Top Chef!
Around the World in 80 Plates [Split from Top Chef thread]
Will you please, please, pretty please with sugar on top do the recaps for this one, too?
Top Chef Texas -- Reunion
I found it interesting that neither Lindsay nor Sarah chose to sit next to Heather. It was also nice to see Lindsay sitting next to Bev and being supportive of her (stroking Bev's arm). I like both Sarah and Lindsay better than I did and dislike Heather even more. I think their behavior was very telling of the types of people they are. As others have said, both Sarah and Lindsay seemed embarrassed by the clips they saw of themselves. Sarah telling Emeril to F Off was definitely a low point, but so it goes. Good for both of them for being adults at the Reunion (other than the Emeril/Sarah thing)
Top Chef Texas Finale Part 2 - Ep. #17 - 02/29/12 (Spoilers)
Yeah, you've got a point there.
Top Chef Texas Finale Part 2 - Ep. #17 - 02/29/12 (Spoilers)
I love Kurosawa Akira's films, but?
While watching the Reunion, and when the F off came up, I was interested in Tom C's reaction. Originally I thought he was the one who'd been told to F off, now I'm unsure. Was he incredulous at Sarah's denial?
Any memories of "poor people food" from your childhood that you still crave?
Ooooh, yeah! Fried bologna sandwiches with Best Foods mayo! Sometimes that was dinner.
Any memories of "poor people food" from your childhood that you still crave?
My Norwegian mother called it "rice pudding." We often had it for breakfast (no such thing as school breakfasts back then). I was amazed at what real rice pudding tasted like, although I still like Mom's version and have it sometimes, especaily when not feeling well.
Top Chef Texas Finale Part 2 - Ep. #17 - 02/29/12 (Spoilers)
My bad. That dessert did look mighty good, though. I'm so happy that Paul won, but Sarah did do a couple interesting things.
Top Chef Texas Finale Part 2 - Ep. #17 - 02/29/12 (Spoilers)
Didn't one of the judges also say something to the effect that one of Paul's dishes was something they'd be "riffing off of" for years?
Top Chef Texas Finale Part 1 - Ep. #16 - 02/22/12 (Spoilers)
Male names ending in "o" are common (Toshio, Yasuo, Tetsuo, Ichiro, etc. etc.), while those ending in "ko" are uncommon. Female names very frequently end in "ko" (Yoko, Kyoko, Masako, etc,) with the usual kanji being that for "child." Of course, there are also female names that do not end in "ko" such as Tsurue, Maki, etc. As you mention, there are "hiko" male names, the "hiko" character being for boy. I knew a Yasuhiko very well in college and later in Japan. That being said, male names ending in a single kanji reading "ko" are pretty unusual. No real hard and fast rules, but there are frequencies of use.
In any case, great job on digging up the kanji and names! I still envision the kanji I attribute to names, and their English translations, when trying to memorize names of new people. It works as a mnemonic trick, even when I do have the wrong character. :-)
Top Chef Texas Finale Part 1 - Ep. #16 - 02/22/12 (Spoilers)
Boy's name vs. (probably) girl's name. I'm sure there must be boys' names ending in "ko," just as there are a few girls' names that don't, but I can't think of any off the top of my head right now.
Top Chef Texas Finale Part 1 - Ep. #16 - 02/22/12 (Spoilers)
I think I would have stopped TC altogether if Paul had been eliminated last night. Seeing Lindsay go home for her halibut was a little bit of redemption for Bev.
Seeking the perfect make-ahead drunk food
Classic hangover food - menudo! If you can't stand tripe, try making posole or albondigas. Any of those 3, with lots of warm flour tortillas, will make you fit company until you can go back to bed.
Seeking the perfect make-ahead drunk food
And eat that chili over rice that's waiting for you in the rice cooker, with all those toppings.
Another trick that rarely failed me is to take a B12 along with a couple of pain killers (Tylenol, Advil, whatever) and drink down a full glass of water right before you go to bed. That's one of the best hangover avoidance techniques I've ever been introduced to. I haven't had a hangover inducing night on the town in ages, but will swear by this if I do it again.
What do you do with Spam?
We used to add it (or canned corned beef) to curry when we were out on long sails, usually races but sometimes leisure cruising, especially every summer. Served over hot rice, it's just great!
What do you do with Spam?
You beat me to it. Hawaii also has its own Spam Cookbook and annual Spam cooking competitions. I used to get 2 Spam Musubi from our psychiatric patients once a week when they made and sold them for fundraisers (they had staff supervision). They were great if I couldn't get away from my desk for lunch that day!
Top Chef Texas - Ep. #15 - 02/15/12 (Spoilers)
I loved going cross country (from Colorado to California and back) on trains in the summer back in the 60's. The scenery was amazing, but the food was only so-so. Trains through Mexico had horrid food, but there was good food sold by vendors on the station platforms where we stopped. For my college graduation we took the train from L.A. (after Disneyland) to Seattle, then along the Canadian border to Minnesota. I'd gladly go anywhere in the world on a train if I got a compartment!
Top Chef Texas - Ep. #15 - 02/15/12 (Spoilers)
I guess Alex is just the best of the bunch, then.
Top Chef Texas - Ep. #15 - 02/15/12 (Spoilers)
She's the main reason I routinely flip back and forth, sometimes just refusing to watch Chopped at all. I'll usually stick around if Aaron Sanchez is on the panel, but Alex can sometimes cancel out even him. She's just horrid!
Top Chef Texas - Ep. #15 - 02/15/12 (Spoilers)
And David Simon did take several of the Wire actors and transplant them to NOLA for Treme, another great show that I really miss now since I no longer get HBO. Treme also has some great cooking and cameos from the likes of AB (who also consults). Great jazz, too, with lots of famous musicians regularly featured and Elvis Costello occasionally making an appearance (at least when I was still able to watch).
Top Chef Texas - Ep. #15 - 02/15/12 (Spoilers)
What were they thinking canceling The Wire? I'm sure it would still have devotees if it was still on the tube. It might have been my favorite show of all time.
I'd like to know what the TC producers are thinking, too, but only in terms of degrees of stupidity. I miss the cooking challenges that were about cooking, not stupid challenges with no relation whatsoever to food.
