TO MOLLIFY LINGJACKSON OVERDRIVEBERT WHO IS THE SQUEAKY DESERT FIEND, POST ON THIS THREAD AND ONE OF YOUR FRIENDLY ITR MODS WILL TELL YOU THAT YOU ARE WICKED AWESOME, AND POSSIBLY OFFER AN EFFUSIVE ST

Okay, I've added the McGee and the Alton Brown books to my Goodreads TO READ lists. That way I can't lose the titles. Thanks you guys!

Hooray!

Meantime, speaking of Bittman and the core cookbook of his, I've just made a batch of his kale soup with fish sauce and lime, on page 54.

And Remy's right, but I'd temper this -- Bittman implicitly encourages you to experiment where the uncreative mind reads his recipes as literal rules of behavior to follow every time. It really depends on the cook and what inspiration is to hand. For instance, in the case of the soup I made, I needed to use up some kale, thought a soup would be good, found a reasonable recipe in the book, switched out the soy for fish sauce (a step Bittman encourages, to be sure) and have noted that the end result needs more seasoning, but that's why the batch is in the fridge to be adjusted whenever I eat it later in the week.

Ned has just illustrated what freaks me out about cooking: it requires judgement that I don't have. I feel more comfortable with baking because it is so precise that it is hard to screw up. Secondary to that, if I do screw up a batch of cookies, no one is going to be going without dinner. It's just cookies.

Kale soup with fish sauce and lime sounds interesting to me, but I can about imagine the response I'd get from that guy I married. The kids are hopeless, but A. is also not so much for the vegetables. (And to be fair, vegetables in MN can be kind of meh)

I'm full of teh lame excuses, aren't I.

You must look to the advantages of a place like Minnesota. Think of the lovely mosquito harvest each summer.

my MN friends are among the most timid I've ever met w/r/t vegetables, so you may be on to something.

also the idea of Tom making sauce is sorta funny

replace "timid" with "violently opposed to" and i fit the remyographic

you are the bunnicula of people

(oh hey ned, i was supposed to call you, but it is all late now. i will try tomorrow)

That's it. Next year for John's birthday someone has to make him a mosquito cake.

Although I guess March is a little early in the season.

you can substitute gnats, ticks, chiggers and earthworms for up to half the weight of the mosquitos without any ill effect on the recipe

hmmmm, what about boxelder bugs? Now that it is warming up, I'm noticing them outside my house - and inside it, too. Or are they just too crunchy?

(oh hey ned, i was supposed to call you, but it is all late now. i will try tomorrow)

Yeah, you. Any time after 9 is good (thanks weird AT&T definition of 'nights and weekends'!)

That's it. Next year for John's birthday someone has to make him a mosquito cake.

Hey, YOU'RE the baker, so hop to. Start with mosquito cookies, and note the tears of joy on your offspring's faces when you tell them what they are eating.

cut an x on the top and blanch 'em quickly so the shell will slip off, then just give a little squeeze and the juicy innards will plop onto your plate like a greased turd. use them anywhere cocktail onions might usually serve

I am so sad that Dan isn't reading this right now, since he's the gourmet expert on flies. (Poor Dan!)

No, you're getting it wrong -- he is a fly gourmet.

He's going to rebuke us all tomorrow morning, I am sure.

remy, I fear the imagine what kind of dreams I might have tonight after reading your serving suggestion for the boxelders. Well done!

And Ned, I'll be shipping you some mosquito cookies in late August.

boxeldertini

boxeldertronix

On that distressing note, I'm off to dreamland, possibly to find new and creative uses for boxelder bug excess.

Good night, guys!

nighto

I'm still awake and some of you are in trouble now, bleak

didn't need to remember tv fly story yuck

I always ate my vegetables! Nobody had to beg! I can think of other nearby states which are worse for thinking a baked potato drowned in sour cream = a serving of veg. I don't know where MN veggie hate comes from, however my mom was clever enough with gardening ("look, you grew that tomato...") to head it off at the pass if it ever existed.

My cousins who are 6 and 9 now only eat the following things: pizza, hot dogs, macaroni and cheese, various potato configurations. The elder one likes steak, but this is a new development.

with any luck this will be the last time in a long time that I wish you freaks good night during the 0600-0800 EST time frame

good night

and...good morning

home from another mad busy night at work bump

wau my iPhone typing sucks at 2:30

Your tv fly story WAS bleak

suzy, I think the MN vegetable hate comes from long winters with not much good fresh produce. You're lucky to have had a mother who was good with gardening. My mother still buys Bird's Eye vegetables and boils the hell out of them. Not enjoyable.

Actually we didn't do much. Stuff we could grow: zucchini, tomatoes, beans, rhubarb. We had so much zucch that my mom had to make all kinds of zucch bread for two months every year or drop the excess on unsuspecting neighbours. Carrots somehow disappeared before properly grown (mmmm, stealth baby carrots washed off by garden hose). My aunt had the much better garden and it was four doors down. I really want some of her yellow plum tomato soup made with vegetable stock and the heel of a Parmesan wedge thrown in the pot to deepen the flavour.

The trick of my mom is that we didn't notice that other kids either did not like or refused to eat vegetables. We certainly ate a lot of frozen Bird's Eye during the winter (either the 'medley' or French beans) generally buttered up and dusted with pepper. I think she was lucky that we liked the broccoli and cauliflower that were available. My mom would prioritize cramming us full of vitamin C in wintertime.

"EAT THIS ORANGE, EAT IT."

"No mom no!" *muffled noises*

^^^^actual scene from my childhood.

it's good to know there are people older than me who hate vegetables and are still alive.

Yes but your innards will eventually turn to crusty mush without them. (My innards will be as smooth as silk even after I am dead, though I do not plan on dying. I don't know about you people.)

mmmm rhubarb. Even I can grow that (by virtue of it being entirely unkillable). Yellow plum tomato soup sounds fantastic.

crusty mush innards = diverticulitis

It is very frustrating to look through a cookbook and think, "yeah... J won't eat this... 4lex won't eat this... my HUSBAND won't eat this..."

A.'s favorite vegetable is lettuce. He'd be happy to live on lettuce, white bread, dark chocolate (sometimes in cake form) and the occasional steak.

IF THE SUEDE VS PUBLIC ENEMY POLL CLUSTERFUCKS ITS WAY PAST US IN THREADRANK I WILL BE V V ANGRY

John, your irrational knee-jerk competitiveness would concern me if I wasn't the same way sometimes.

Said poll thread has actually become a 'who was what on Are You Being Served/why is The Kids in the Hall sucky' thread.

So confusing.

I am never going to finish this paper bump.

Said poll thread has actually become a 'who was what on Are You Being Served/why is The Kids in the Hall sucky' thread.

ok so that is even worse

I was gonna say. Time to go CRUSHING some heads. CRUSHING!

uh-oh. suzy's on a rampage. I'm glad I'm safely not on that thread! ;)

re: brits and kids in the hall...do they just not get it, or are they deeply deeply broken?