We’ve stayed on-topic because the original topic was our favorite topic - food! Why would we ever need to talk about anything else??
I’m from Upstate NY originally and grew up making maple syrup (probably grade B at best… we never quite achieved light amber) so I’m a huge maple fan. KT (the husband) loves pecans so I think it’ll be maple pecan at our house. Yum, this sounds really good!
KT doesn’t think we’ll have time to make the pumpkin cheesecake for T-day this year. We’re not getting to my parents’ until late Wednesday, and it won’t have time to cool and set properly if we don’t start it until Thurs morning. Boo. He’s right, but still…
I’m taking tomorrow off for a mental health day. Work’s been stressful on and off for a month or more, and I need a break. Yay for a day to sleep in and not worry about work!
Yay on the new baby LiLi! Post pics when you have them!
GilaMonster is at the shop finishing up the cold foods and I am at home finishing the hot foods. In about an hour we will meet and exchange items. What fun!!!
Can anyone recommend nice-ish but not too expensive (i.e. doesn’t have to be luxurious but nicer than Days Inn and preferably more historic!) hotels or B&Bs in Charleston, SC? I got a list from a friend who lives there, but they’re all the 5-star types, and we don’t quite have the budget for that. But it’d be nice to stay someplace where we know we’re away from home and not just in the airport hotel down the street. Know what I mean?
Taxi, this looks nice:. I don’t know what your budget is but that didn’t look outrageous. Here’s the web site I got that one from and there are other hotels. I stayed in a cool place there once that had a loft and was right in the historic center but that was over 20 years ago. :eek:
taxi, I like the look of this one - it’s historic, the rooms have a nice Laura Ashley kind of vibe to them, and the rates are comparable to most nice B&Bs I’ve stayed in before (and not that much more expensive than the Charleston Days Inn, in case you’re curious ). I’m not sure what time of year you’re going, but they even have bicycles available for guests to use, which seems like a really neat way to explore a new city.
Soooo… how’s that lurking thing working out for ya, LiLi? Congrats to OQD and hubby on the new addition to their family. I second/third/whatever the motion for pix of the new baby once you have them.
Our furnace got its annual checkup this morning, and got a clean bill of health. The furnace guy says that it’s not a very good model, though (not that I’m surprised, since it broke down twice during its first winter of service)… we’ll probaby have to replace it, but thankfully not for another 10-12 years or so.
Hey! Sit down! We’re gonna get started! - Right Now by Van Halen
Processional - *Tattoo *from Tubular Bells II by Mike Oldfield
Recessional - Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now by Jefferson Airplane/Starship
I’m glad that we’re not using the traditional “Here Comes The Bride” march. At last Saturday’s wedding, it was freakishly Pavlovian when the opening sting played and everyone stood up and turned to face where the bride was entering from.
While I’m thinking of it, anyone know of a decent (and free!) MP3 / M4P editing program for Mac? Tattoo, in particular, needs to be edited with a fade-in and fade-out as it’s part of an overall continuum of music. As a discrete track, it has a rough and abrupt end.
I’d much rather be able to hand the DJ a CD with an edited track, rather than hope he remembers to start playing it muted, then bring it up at 0:07 then fade out at 3:53 or whatever the timing is.
Oh, and no webcast. No video either - just normal photographers.
Well, good morning to all of you. Yet another busy day yesterday, so I didn’t get to post. That was a good OP, Soapy.
I have several cookbooks, but mostly print-outs and handwritten recipes. Oh, I also have a set of recipe cards. I’ve got the standard Homes and Garden cookbooks, a Rick Bayless cookbook, a firefighter’s fund raiser cookbook. There are others, but frankly, I’m too lazy to get up and look at the titles and authors.
I view recipes as a “jumping-off” place and tweak them as I go along. Sometimes, the recipes evolve into something completely my own. For the most part, I just throw stuff together that I think will taste good. It seems to work out for me.
I currently have some pork in the slow cooker to make pulled pork. Unfortunately, I don’t think it’ll be done before my daughter has to head off to work. This is one of her all time favorites.
HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY GT!!!
I’m sorry about the ouchie knee, snowbunny.
I hope the gas leak issue gets squared away, Pie. That sounds a little scary.
Finally, welcome to our newbies! Congrats to** Quasi-Daughter, Li-Li!**
A couple of years ago, I made Paula Deen’s pumpkin gooey butter cake recipe for Thanksgiving, and noone missed pumpkin pies that year. That cake was delicious but extremely rich. Pumpkin cheesecake is delicious too; I bought one of those one year. Bad thing was that I ended up eating way too much of it. Did I ever share that another of my favorite sites is this one? Even though the 2009 calendars cost $23 (w/shipping), it’s still a great site and many folks share recipes even.
I am enjoying my day off … not wanting to go back to work tomorrow, where I’ll have to get down to the nitty gritty once again of cleaning and packing in anticipation of the carpet replacement (which will be done at night).
Late to the party, as usual. My absolute favoritist cookbook is my mother’s small three-ring binder, into which she lovingly placed her recipes for everything we all grew up loving. Christmas cookies, great-grandmother’s gingerbread (made with lard!), perushke, herb-parmesan bread; all those childhood memories. I swear I can feel mom looking over my shoulder as I’m cooking whenever I use one of those recipes,
As for others:
My own recipes, both written and in my head Italy The Beautiful Cookbook Fresh Taste of Italy Southern Cooking The Joy of Cooking Paella! Now, I recommend this book for the recipes, but not for the cooking method. Penelope Casas has just gotten it dead wrong in that regard. Betty Crocker: Hey, I know it’s not cool, but some basics never change.
I am really craving actual food now. My jaw doesn’t seem to be getting better, but it hasn’t gotten worse, either. A stead diet of Ensure, soup, yogurt and mashed potatoes is boring. I want sourdough bread, carrots, apples, celery, broccoli, tofu, Thai food, pizza…Sigh. Juiced and pureed is NOT the same.
It’s quiet today. A lot of schools here were off yesterday and the rest are off today, so lots of people stayed home yesterday and today. Quiet is good, I like quiet.
Ooh, they’ve updated our gift shop. They’ve added the cutest onsies and baby hoodie sweatshirts, with little duckies on them. Aww! The older rompers are cute, but they have our logo in 72 point font and no ducks.
I had looked at that, but ~$180/night or almost $600 for the 3-day trip is more than we wanted to spend. The one that **Muppet **mentioned is ~$120/night, which is much better. About $200 better for the whole weekend. That’s the kind of difference we can’t ignore at this point. The Elliott House does look really nice though. Thanks for looking it up. I have done online searches as well, but I was hoping I could get some personal recommendations.
The liquid diet sucks Shadow. How long do you expect to have to be on that before you can go back to regular food?
The aroma of pulled pork is wafting about the kitchen. It smells good; unfortunately, it has a ways to go before it’s done.
I’m waiting for just a little bit longer before I head upstairs to take a shower. My son took one of his epically long showers.:rolleyes: I want to ensure I have hot water.
Hmm, this gooey pumpkin butter cake recipe sounds intriguing. I’m a take it or leave it kinda gal when it comes to pumpkin pie. I think we’re doing T-Giving at my sister’s place. I haven’t been told what I’m bring yet, though I think I’ll be asked to bring the sweet potato dish I made last year. It was a huge hit.
We’ve got another series of rain storms blowing in, along with accompanying wind gusts. This means more street and river flooding. Oh joy. It’s alright when you’re inside, but if you have to about and about in that kind of weather it pretty much sucks. I don’t know why, but it seems the majority of folks forget how to drive in this kind of weather.
Yes, but which one? Some of the revisions over the years have been less than advisable. I like to browse used bookstores for old editions; for example, I have the 1964 printing that was rushed out to deal with all the screwups in the unauthorized '62. Interesting, if not the most practical of the various versions (that would be the '75).
Also, just for grins, I recently picked up both A Day at El Bulli (which is a food book, not a cook book, since it has only a handful of recipes) and The French Laundry Cookbook (which is easily the most practical fine-dining cookbook I’ve ever seen; the recipes are incredibly thorough in their detail). Fun stuff.
). I’m not sure what time of year you’re going, but they even have bicycles available for guests to use, which seems like a really neat way to explore a new city.
Congrats to OQD and hubby on the new addition to their family. I second/third/whatever the motion for pix of the new baby once you have them.