thistle

I'd be happy to bring the CampChef stove (w/ 3 30K burners) for any chicken-frying activities (don't have a turkey fryer, maybe that would be better?), I also have lg. stockpots for frying, & mindful of uncertain weather conditions, will bring a pop-up canopy & side tables, as well as some sort of food & drink (still undetermined). We're all (myself & 2-3 family members) looking forward to the picnic...

I've been busy today setting up my Earthboxes for tomatoes & peppers, I don't care if conventional wisdom says to wait until after May 15th, mine are going out NOW-well, most of them anyway, I don't have Sungold tomato seedlings yet & they are my favorite, the only tomatoes I have right now are Pineapple & Country Taste, just waiting for some more exciting varieties to show up....I have 4 peppers-Thai hot, Holy Mole, poblano , & kung pao, will probably add serrano & jalapeno... This year, I'm trying out a new potting mix-coco coir, mixed w/ perlite, & a few new planters-stackers, interlocking planters that drip down to the bottom ones, planted with lettuce, bush beans, maybe squash. Tons of mint-apple, orange, chocolate, julep, peppermint to plant in an ugly IKEA terracotta planting stand (I still can't figure out why I bought this), vietnamese coriander-I wonder if I can train it up a small topiary form? lots of ornamentals to fill empty pots, although I'm trying my hardest not to buy annuals (except for maybe coral vine, coleus, other special things). I've got a 'Creme Brulee' heuchera, 'Anne Greenway' lamium, & sarcococca to fill 2 pots in the front that still have overwintered pansies & creeping jenny in them. I love this time of the year, even if I'm overwhelmed by the things I want to plant...

Mmm, croaker & seafood pancake sounds delicious! I will definitely have to try this place out for lunch sometime...

Watching this show has been a guilty pleasure, even though NBC cancelled it after only 3 episodes. I've continued to watch on Hulu & now that they 're down to the final 2 teams, the final episode should be quite interesting. Marco Pierre White as the host is alternately interesting (when he's doing cooking demos) & annoying (most of the rest of the time), but I really enjoy seeing what goes on in the kitchen, even if it's a competitive reality show, not a real restaurant. The final 2 teams both cooked for the red restaurant, both chefs are blonds from California-Lisa & Anapol are both seasoned restaurant vets, Kelsey (w/ her sister Vanessa as FOH) is a personal chef, I believe. The last challenge was for them to each cook 3 courses (ap, main, & dessert), working side by side in a tiny kitchen, w/ a dumbwaiter to move the food up to the dining room in a museum on the upper floor. Kelsey barely squeaked out the win, although her dishes, other than the dessert, didn't appeal to me (of course, I don't know how they tasted). However, she still asks for lots of help in the kitchen from Lisa, while Lisa bangs her food out unassisted (& most of the things she cooks seem quite appetizing to me, w/ the exception of her last dessert, which sounded kind of gross- a split fig, w/ a warmed goat cheese sauce & pomegranate seeds). For the final, each team takes a separate restaurant (so no help from Lisa for Kelsey)... (edited, because her name's Kelsey, not Chelsey & it's a museum, not an art gallery)

I'll be there (w/ family members) w/ bells on, helping in any way that I can, if I can just put pig-roaster/deviant under my name on the nametag...hopefully, all of our spring sports will be over (we have lacrosse on Sat. & Sunday, that date is fine as long as my son DOESN'T make the championships, just saying...). I'll bring cookbooks to swap, some sort of food & drink, are we going to have any kind of challenge-fried chicken, pate?

I'm not crazy about melons, so I haven't grown them, but from what I understand, they like high heat/ sunlight, lots of water, & lots of fertilizer. So start (or purchase) your plants early, but don't expect them to take off right away. You could also try surrounding the plants w/ black stones to absorb more solar energy & release it at night. I've got to get out & get the veg garden started, too. I'm going to dump all the old potting mix out of my Earthboxes (that I lazily left out all winter) onto the side beds & refill them w/ coco coir as a planting mix this season-we'll see how that works.

The hardiest herbs for me (that I think would take some shade) are thyme & chives. Rosemary, also, but it needs sun. Once things warm up, I put in all kinds of basil, tarragon, vietnamese coriander (rau ram)-doesn't bolt like regular cilantro. I also grow purple fennel, but not for culinary purposes, it's just a nice companion for roses, & for some strange reason, although I can grow lots of plants, I still manage to kill mint (which is supposedly indestructible)...

Some of us, unfortunately, spent the day at home w/ children, dispensing hot chocolate. I was looking forward to going back to work (p/t, at a garden center) for the first time in 2 months, alas, it was not meant to be. We had leftovers & frozen pepperoni pizza for lunch (I was shocked to find I had picked up Stouffer's supreme french bread pizza accidently, instead of pepperoni-I'm screwed, the kids won't eat this, maybe I can persuade my husband to take it in for lunch). Tonight, courtesy of my daughter (they're taking turns cooking), we're having grilled chicken thighs, rice, & broccoli. Last night, my son made pan-grilled ribeye steaks, risotto, & peas (& he makes a great risotto). I took a class w/ Roberto Donna at Bebo (it was wonderful!) & made my class notes available to my son-we are both amazed at how much stock the rice sucks up, it's a patient exercise, I have an attractive Mario Batali beechwood spoon to pass the time with (don't know that it's any better than plastic, but it's pretty). I so hope that they go back to school tomorrow, though...

Eric, Congratulations on the job & move! As much as we'd prefer that you stayed here (my son is still in awe of your bacon-making skills, it gives him something to shoot for), I can see how you'd want to try someplace else, especially if it's San Francisco...bonne chance! (& if you hate it there, come back to DC!)!

I can't even imagine being on this show-I think it would be more stressful than just cooking-the timed challenges, not knowing what's going to be thrown at you, guest judges-I'm impressed w/ anyone who even auditions for this kind of stuff...

I haven't made bread in an awfully long time, but got the urge the other day-total disaster! I think the flour in the tupperware was White Lily (great for biscuits, not for bread), my yeast was ancient, my bread machine hadn't been dragged out in ages. Dough looked like crap (very thin & slack) but I baked it anyway-finished bread did not rise or really brown. Oh well, out to the compost pile with it... Not giving up yet, purchased new yeast, some new flours (rye, whole wheat, cornmeal) to store in the freezor, tried to clean up the ancient baking stone in my oven which looks historic, started the starter for pain a l'ancienne (Rustic European Breads from your bread machine) which will sit overnight. Wish me luck...

Would anyone be interested in having an informal cookbook exchange at the next picnic? I rarely get rid of cookbooks, but when I do, I donate them to the library, but sometimes I feel noone will love them as much as I do (that's sad, I know). I have tons of books, that for one reason or another, just don't get that much use, & if someone else could use them, I'd feel better about giving them away..

Although I don't own them yet, mine are on almost constant rotation from the library-Growing Up in a Korean Kitchen, Hisoo-Shin Hepinstall (I love this one for the stories, &ht make your own kimchee) & Eating Korean, Cecilia Hae-Jin Lee.

It's a great read, I got it from the library. I am known in my family for getting the WORST fortune cookie fortunes ever-one time, I didn't even get one, just an empty cookie. My fortune from my lunch at Blue Pearl last Friday-'You will be hungry again in one hour.'

I copied it directly from this blog-what lollya eats-used onion, garlic, & chipotle, & my son said it was still seriously underseasoned-nothing a few shakes of hot sauce couldn't clear up, I think I cooked it for about 5 hours, but could have gone longer if I had added more liquid. I love beans, just beans & rice & hot sauce, w/ a salad, is a real meal, to me (& I could skip the salad).

I think Stefan is a lock for TC at this point, w/ Jaime & Jeff as competitors-don't really think much about any of the others, although Fabio & Carla are both delightful people...

So, how was doctor fish? I keep thinking about trying that...

My grand intentions have started with a puff, rather than a bang. I did cook some black beans last night in the crockpot, a new technique for me. Dinner tonight was leftover steak, sauteed in butter & pepper (for my son & husband), boiled little yellow potatoes, & sauteed napa cabbage w/ country ham & sauerkraut-oh, & I made some fried rice midday, using leftover pork tenderloin& I used a Krusteaz (this sounds bad)mix to make blueberry muffins, the crumbcake mix is awesome, have my doubts about the blueberry muffins, maybe 'cause they're fatfree. Tomorrow, I'll go grocery shopping & see if I can get some ideas...

Ok, fast or made ahead, I vote for some type of slow-cooker meal, or something that can be prepped in another kitchen appliance/cookware (microwave, cast iron, pressure cooker, rice cooker, etc.)-I have cookbooks for both the slow cooker & rice cooker, but really haven't pushed the boundaries for either one. I have 2 children, ages 9 & 13, who are my harshest critics-they like to help cook,yet offer intense criticism for most new dishes. If I could come up w/ something that everyone would eat, (I'm not including side dishes), I would consider it a success....

I agree, luckily, I am not allergic to anything (except kapok), but I noticed that the TJ products were labelled as 'processed w/ nuts, & other stuff', I realize how lucky I am to be able to use products without having to worry about specific allergens. It must be awfully difficult to try & sort out products that may have harmful side effects...

Yay! -I hesitate to say, 'Woo-hoo!', for fear of sounding like an Orange Co. housewife-I have a 4 day weekend staring at me (courtesy of Fairfax Co. teacher workdays-didn't these kids have off last weekend?). Someone please throw out an idea or a challenge, & I'll try & hit the commissary tomorrow for ingredients-problems-it's too cold to think about any kind of outdoor cooking, pluses-the garage is cold enough for curing or holding food. Any ideas, folks?

I've just made yogurt using my bargain Salton 1 quart yogurt maker. At first, I figured this would be just another tchotsche in the kitchen (maybe it still is, cause I don't eat that much yogurt). My first attempt was a bust, but I think it was because my starter yogurt was old. This time, I heated up milk & dry milk powder (in the microwave, & boiled it over), stirred in some yogurt starter-Stonyfield Farms, plugged it in, & 10 hrs. later, (well, abit later than that, because I threw it in the frig overnight), I had yogurt! My son said, 'it's a little thin & tart'. but hey, it's yogurt, that's what it tastes like, right? I had some this morning for breakfast, mixed w/ cinnamon, splenda, oats, & apple ( I call this 'horse chow')-it was delicious. I'm draining some for a yogurt cheese, & I plan on using some for a marinade for my chicken tomorrow night...

I usually only hit TJ's maybe once every month or two for goodies, while going down the first aisle, I had a woman swoop past me & take all the bags of unsulphured apricots. Now, I love apricots, but these looked really BROWN-why would you get them, an allergy to sulphured products? (I'm serious, I thought about getting some, but just picked up some golden raisins, instead). Other stuff I picked up-vanilla, salsas (really like the chile verde), a hummous sampler for my DH, various chips, pink fizzy lemonade, chocolate covered almonds, 2 pre-prepped items-Thai style lime pilaf rice & spinach, lentil, & garlic soup, 2 frozen items-seafood crab cakes & spanokopita-no apologies, I love both of these, & cookies for this visit (abstaining from triple ginger & cookies for cats)-Old world style triple ginger thins & dark chocolate covered gingersnaps. The latter were not what I expected, I was picturing choc-dipped gingersnaps, these are tiny bites (like a choc-covered almond) of ginger cookies, good, but a bit too much chocolate coating for me. I love TJ's, but I always feel like I've picked up snacks & condiments vs. food, when I go....

Anyone feel like reviving this thread? or another cook-at-home kind of challenge? I'm thinking about my food resolutions for this year, looking at my overflowing cookbook collection & pantry of unused ingredients, & while I'd love to take a class to jumpstart my creative urges, don't have the time or the cash right now. I always do better if I have a deadline or a challenge, or some sort of structure. If someone would like to choose a cookbook or theme or ingredient to work on, I'd be on it, in a heartbeat. Confession, I've been watching Top Chef, & Hell's Kitchen starts next week-a real challenge like a mystery box or list of ingredients would be great...I just need a push, to get cooking!

Yes, inspired by the Territorial catalog, I'd like to try & do a better job of growing greens-lettuce, chard, bok choy. I'd like to get a head start on winter sowing some veg (especially cool season stuff like broccoli, snow peas, cauliflower). I'm content to wait until I can get plants from the garden center in the spring for tomatoes, peppers, okra, because they don't do well until the weather really warms up. That said, I think we're having a pretty mild winter- so far, all my plants, including palms, seem to be coasting thru the winter...