Text 24414, 190 rader
Skriven 2012-05-03 21:36:42 av Ruth Haffly (1:396/45.28)
  Kommentar till text 24336 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
Ärende: economy/ies 587                                          [1]
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Hi Michael,

One paper done, one to go! Do some format tweaking on all written work,
submit electronically and I'm DONE!


 RH> My mom loves to eat too but I guess, from the sound of it, is easier
 RH> to get along with than your mom was.

 ML> I felt sorry for her, as she had no friends, but to be quite
 ML> frank, avoiding her was the easiest thing - same with my brother.

Did your mom get out at all socially? Other than getting her hair done
once a week and the occaisional doctor's appointments, my mom doesn't
get out much any more. Part of it is due to the fact that it's hard for
her to get out of the house, harder to get back into it because of the
way the steps/porches are built. As far as I know, there's still no ramp
which would greatly simplify the matter.

 ML> Hah. I lived all my life without a wok or ice cream maker
 ML> and most of it with two or fewer cutting boards.
 RH> She had an ice cream maker when I was a kid but only used it a few
 RH> years. It was one that was more hassle than anything else--and she
 RH> usually made only vanilla when she did use it.

 ML> Vanilla is one of the nicest of ice creams. I had a taste of
 ML> Breyers French the other day, and it was remarkably bland -
 ML> worthy the description "plain vanilla." Though it had egg
 ML> yolks, there was no significant benefit in flavor (which owed
 ML> to vanilla extract) or texture (tara gum). I didn't go for a
 ML> second taste, which would have necessitated taking a pill.

That's one of Steve's favorites; he introduced me to it when we first
got married. In GA we caught sales on Breyer's regularly; they're
probably as often here but we don't stock the freezer the way we did
there. Better for our waistlines. (G)


 ML> I understand nothing can beat chocolate, we needn't discuss it.

Got that right!

 ML> On the rare occasion I made ice cream or sorbet, I used the
 ML> laborious freeze partially, crush up, and then beat method
 ML> or the freeze and scrape method, neither much fun.

That is a lot of work--and a lot of time involved that could be better
spent on other things. Before we had the ice cream maker, my mom would
do something similar to the latter method with a condensed milk base.
She'd pour the fixin's into an old ice cube tray as I recall.

 ML>   As for cutting boards,
 RH> she rarely uses one and her counter tops are all scarred up. We've
 RH> lived in so many rental (or military housing) places that use of a
 RH> cutting board is automatic for me.

 ML> I've seen counters like that. And the knives that go with them,
 ML> all blunted and sometimes scarred themselves.

Got my mom's knives pegged there. She used to have a half decent chef's
knife that she kept on an upper closet shelf--rarely used. I think she
did take it down & put it with the other knives when the kitchen was
redone but now it's not a decent knife for anything, anymore.

 RH> My parents like shoe leather steak too. (G)
 ML> As I said to someone once, you certainly know you're
 ML> eating meat.
 RH> Are you sure? Some of it tastes like it came from an old pair of
 RH> shoes.

 ML> Bill (see below) is also of the school where a little pink
 ML> in the middle of the steak and a glass of wine is the height
 ML> of raciness,

My folks usually forgo the wine but a rare steak is a rare sight in
their kitchen.

 and I've eaten here enough to have encountered
 ML> such, mostly with pork, where as you know if there's the
 ML> slightest trace of juice when you cut into it, you will no
 ML> doubt die in terrifying agonies with parasites coming out
 ML> your nose.

IOW, what I grew up with. Got to avoid the tricky noses. (G)


 ML> Does anyone remember the New Yorker article a few decades
 ML> back that featured an unknown chef in the upper Hudson
 ML> Valley (I think) who scandalized the writer by tasting a
 ML> bite of raw pork as he prepped it?

Never saw that but I can picture it.


 ML>  Her beef stew is very
 RH> basic; just meat, potatoes, & carrots seasoned with salt & pepper.
 ML> Which can be pretty good. A little thyme and a bay leaf, that's
 ML> not too much of a leap of faith. And an onion. For sure an onion.
 RH> Rarely at my folks house. Me--always.

 ML> I'm back at Bill's, where a recent echo picnic was held.
 ML> Most of our bridges are mended, especially after the removal
 ML> of the bizarre Nancy to housing for the incapacitated - it
 ML> appears she 1. stole stuff and blamed it on me; and 2. said
 ML> that I'd assaulted her (ugh) and terrorized the cats. Bill
 ML> was of course disinclined to believe her but has gone on the
 ML> really bogus premise that there are always two sides to every
 ML> story (this irritates me almost as much as "the exception
 ML> proves the rule").

After reading the write ups on it, I'm glad we missed that one. Sounds
like she was the one who terrorized the cats. (G)

 ML> Anyhow, Bill's companion Paul eats only certain things. A
 ML> mutual buddy who's mostly vegetarian was dining with us, and
 ML> scanning the stuff left in the fridge for me to cobble
 ML> together - my life is largely a set of mystery ingredients -
 ML> I decided to make a lovely tofu-mushroom stir-fry, only Paul
 ML> won't eat anything with tofu or mushrooms. Another find from

That sounds like it would have been good--and just right for a
vegetarian.

 ML> the bowels of the fridge was a half pound of lamb tips (Bill
 ML> bought them, according to the label, at the end of March for
 ML> 14.99/lb - he's not a great shopper or kitchen manager), which,
 ML> owing to their condition, I had to pack in salt for a while to
 ML> render them edible. Paul eats lamb, and the salt treatment
 ML> worked, otherwise he would have gone hungry. So I made him a
 ML> little stew of these lamb tips (rinsed), half an onion, and

IOW, a kinda-sorta-not really vegetarian.

 ML> some celery and green pepper in tiny mince, almost a paste,
 ML> so he wouldn't notice them. That's it. He doesn't have any
 ML> truck with herbs or spices. Four hours of cooking to make

Soounds familiar. Did you use salt & pepper?

 ML> sure no microbe could possibly survive, and there you have it.
 ML> It was pretty plain, so I added a tablespoon of ketchup at
 ML> the end to round out whatever flavors there were. I ached to
 ML> put a quarter teaspoon of basil, thyme, and rosemary in. It
 ML> didn't taste bad, but just a little something could have made
 ML> it all that much better.

I know the feeling. We've been able to get away with doing so to a
certain extent when we cook for my folks but can't do too much. Some's
better'n none anyway.


 ML>       Title: Deep Dark Chocolate Sauce
 RH> Looks good but the energy required to make it isn't there yet.

 ML> Ug, sorry to hear.

It's coming back, bit by bit. Spent about 90 minutes grocery shopping
today but it was a necessary job, not a want one.


 ML> Of course, in your case, the "to taste" on the liqueur
 ML> would be zero. One could double the cinnamon or sub
 ML> coffee syrup or extract in the appropriate proportion:

I'd leave out the coffee flavor for me, put it in for Steve. I'd go for
mint for myself.

 ML>       Title: Spiced Chocolate Fondue
 ML>  Categories: Dessert, Fruit, Easy
 ML>       Yield: 6 servings

 ML>      12 oz Semisweet chocolate chips    340g
 ML>     1/2 c  Light corn syrup             120mL treacle (I'd omit
 ML> anyway)     1/4 c  Milk                          60mL
 ML>       2 tb Coffee flavored liqueur*      30mL
 ML>     1/8 ts Cinnamon*                    probably about 300mg

Again, leave out the coffee, add mint. (G)


---
Catch you later,
Ruth
rchaffly{at}earthlink{dot}net  FIDO 1:396/45.28


...  I'm clinging to sanity by a thread. Hand me those scissors.

--- PPoint 3.01
 * Origin: Sew! That's My Point (1:396/45.28)