Text 25579, 115 rader
Skriven 2012-05-31 21:04:52 av Ruth Haffly (1:396/45.28)
  Kommentar till text 25512 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
Ärende: knives &c 731
=====================
Hi Michael,

 ML> Nice. Freezers do have their use.
 RH> Yes, ours is well stocked. We can probably have a month or so of meals
 RH> from it, supplimenting with pasta, rice, etc.

 ML> Just have a ready contingency plan for power outages - a
 ML> month's worth of food can be a big hit in such situations.

the plan is to keep the freezer shut; if it looks to be an extended
outage, then look for dry ice. So far, so good. We had some extended
outages in GA but no damage to the food in the freezer. It's a
combination of meats, veggies and prepared dishes.

 ML> really big a grooved (not serrated) steak knife. Seldom if ever
 ML> a paring knife, which strikes me designed for close-range homicide
 ML> with a concealed weapon and not much else.

 ML> I found a use for a paring knife - you probably wouldn't do
 ML> it, as it was levering up a pull tab on a beer can ... or
 ML> maybe you might, as they put ginger beer into cans, too.

They also put root & birch beer in cans. (G) Also, my drink of choice,
Diet Coke. I'm not sure if I've ever used a knife but have used other
kitchen tools. The handle of a fork or spoon works quite well.

 ML> At Annie's I decided to pay attention to the knives. I may not
 ML> have described the living situation - her place consists of what
 ML> is essentially two somewhat altered mirror-image houses. This
 ML> means that there are two kitchens, which have come to be known

Ineresting set up.


 ML> as mine and Annie's. When Billy did any food work, he used mine,
 ML> but he never cooked as much as I did there, so it's my kitchen.
 ML> The other kitchen could have been my kitchen, except I do a lot
 ML> of very high temperature sauteing, and there is a smoke detector
 ML> in it, whereas on the other side, the smoke detector is elsewhere.

Dinner will be ready when the smoke detector goes off? We had a detector
in the living/dining room in Berlin. Sometimes regular cooking would set
it off, often if we grilled (opposite wall & outside), that would set it
off as well.

 ML> Mine has Wusthof knives, which I rather like, though they are
 ML> a little lighter weight than the ones I used to use. The other
 ML> kitchen has Henckels, also a respectable brand. I was doing
 ML> some prep on the other side with the Henckels, and I realized that
 ML> they were light and flimsy and I hated them. Turns out they are
 ML> now being made in China. I immediately stopped using them, except
 ML> for one paring knife for the purpose above.

My chef's knife is a Henckles, didn't look where it is made. It's
overall quite sturdy. We bought a 6 Star (Ronco) set some years ago; the
blades are a light weight stainless steel but the handles are cheap
plastic. One has already been replaced but now that Ronco has filed for
bankruptcy, I don't know if the lifetime replacement warrenty will be
honored.

 RH> I like it for getting into the smaller areas that the chef's knife,
 RH> even at the tip, would be awkward getting into.

 ML> There are boning knives designed for that purpose, though when
 ML> I don't have such handy when I want it, I use the tip of a cheap
 ML> steak knife.

Got one but I'll grab the utility knife (also with a long thin blade)
for a lot of my boning work.

 ML> and fried it (ate the cracklings) for the grease and cooked
 ML> onions in that. 15 boiled baby potatoes and the diced-up beef
 ML> yielded 4 servings of hash, which we rather enjoyed and packed
 RH> Sounds good; I've not had hash in years. My mom used to do it with
 RH> regular roast beef and gravy, not corned beef. Totally different
 RH> taste.

 ML> some up for Billy at the nursing home (they allow self-catering
 ML> there, including one beer or other alcoholic beverage a day).
 RH> Probably encourages the residents to eat more, if they're allowed to
 RH> have the foods they prefer instead of institutional cooking.

 ML> He eats heartily anyway, but the portions Ann has been packing up
 ML> for him are dauntingly large - I suggested that she give him half

Probably enough for 2 meals worth for me. I've cut way back on how much
I can eat per meal.

 ML> rations, which she refused to do until Billy actually begged her
 ML> to not give him so much food! She's responding to his losing weight,
 ML> but that is a factor of the cancer and also the muscle mass loss
 ML> from being bedridden for a long time. Giving him more to eat than
 ML> he can take isn't going to fix anything, and I pointed out that

Eat, you look-a too thin! Sounds like she might be subconciously
thinking he will recover by eating huge meals.

 ML> too large servings can be daunting and have the opposite of the
 ML> intended effect. Yesterday Billy pointed out the cook at the
 ML> facility, who seems to turn out decent product - he's well above
 ML> 300#, and I repeated that old adage, never trust a skinny chef.

A good chef is hard to find for places like that. Most institutional
cooking is boringly bland, even worse than what my mom cooks.

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


... Mind... Mind... Let's see, I had one of those around here someplace.

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