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LoCo's Profile

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Location: So Calif

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Favorite foods: It'd be MUCH easier to list my dislikes!

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The Ten Most Recent Posts By LoCo

From Talk

Artist's Table: Jacques Pépin and Itzhak Perlman... WOW!

I had the incredible good fortune of just happening to catch this show on a local PBS station yesterday. It was sheerly by chance, as I would normally not have the TV on at that time of day (damn... I wish I'd gotten it onto the DVR). In true Jacques fashion, it was absolutely charming. He and Perlman have wonderful chemistry. This is a real not-to-be-missed item IMHO. Watch your local listings, as it does not seem to be one PBS' bigger national items, and appears to be picked up by each local station on a case-by-case basis. I'm going to keep my eyes open in hopes of getting it recorded.

Meanwhile, you can listen to the audio portion of the show at its website.

From Talk

World Food Program Cried Poverty w/$1.22 Billion

At the same time, it had and additional $1.33 billion in pledges, all of which left the organization with more than $2 billion in anticipated cash and reserves just before it made its most recent urgent appeal. This allegedly represents an increase of nearly $400 million over the WFP’s cash reserves a year earlier

From Talk

Serious Eating in Bangkok

My man is going to be in Bangkok next month, for about a week. It's business, so most of his (eating) schedule will be predetermined, but he will definitely be on his own for at least a few meals. We know there are fabulous foodstuffs to be had, and some of the best-rated restaurants in town are in the better hotels. But when we travel, we also make a point of living la vida local, so to speak (when in Rome...).

Any recommendations? Best kept secrets? Places easily accessible by BTS would be especially appreciated.

And it doesn't necessarily need to be Thai food... anything good is always... well... GOOD!

From Talk

Speaking of made-up food terms...

Okay. I do realize that, technically speaking, all words are made-up. But since this has been a topic here more than once (foodie, locavore, blah, blah, blah), and since a relatively new one has just crossed my radar, it seems there might be more to discuss.

My "new" word? ORGANIFY. As in, "Organify your life! Buy our organic baby carrots..."

For me, this "word" is like nails on a chalkboard. Maybe because it probably wouldn't exist if organic weren't so downright trendy (I'm not fond of trendy). Maybe because it really doesn't do much to improve discussion of the related subject matter. I don't know. But I definitely rolled my eyes when I heard it.

Thoughts?

From Talk

Lime Love

Citrus makes my tongue very, very happy (however, my tummy begs to differ). Near the top of my citrus love list is the humble, oft-overlooked lime. Lucky for me, under the right conditions, it's also the citrus variety that is least likely to upset my tummy. Of which conditions do I speak? Read on...

You know the limes you buy in the grocery store? Those small, very green, hard as a rock limes? The ones that give up almost no juice? Well, those are actually very immature limes. That's why they suck. Fully ripened Bearss, Persian or Tahitian limes (ordinary market limes, not key limes) are quite large (2-3" dia.) with yellow skins (they look like lemons). And, they are incredibly juicy and nicely flavored. Sliced, they are gorgeous, with the pale yellow skin in contrast against the flesh, which is a bizarre, almost fluorescent shade of chartreuse (not exaggerating).

If you ever have an opportunity to try a fully ripened Bearss lime, don't pass it up!

Limes are so versatile. Key lime pie is a no-brainer (one of my favorite desserts if I can get real key limes). But limes are also delicious in iced tea, make the best guacamole, awesome in cream cheese frosting, terrific on fish... So many things!

So. Do you love limes? What's your favorite use? Let's boost this unfairly neglected member of the citrus family!

From Talk

Missing JEP's funny questions...

Is anybody in touch with JEP? It's been several weeks since we've seen any of her great _____ queries...

I'd try posting some of those myself, but my _____ side seems to be on hiatus lately.

o0
~~

From Talk

Talk to me about your CSA experiences.

I'm referring, of course, to Community Supported Agriculture, not the Confederate States of America. Although I live in our nation's most productive agricultural state, I'm also smack dab in the middle of approximately 10,000 square miles of mostly uninterrupted urban sprawl. Imagine my surprise at finding a handful of (relatively) local CSA farms with drop points within 30 minutes of my home...

I'm thinking about giving them a try, but I want feedback. I live near a fantastic microclimate that allows the growth of virtually any produce imaginable. Much of that produce grows year-round, or nearly so. That means that the baskets of each CSA farm vary wildly. One has all kinds of citrus and semi-tropical tree produce, including macadamias, along with more standard vegetables. Another is about mostly conventional farm vegetables. The prices vary from "not cheap" to "very expensive", which is fine, but since the commitments are pretty consistently a minimum of three months, I've gotta find a way to narrow 'em down.

Tell me about your experiences, past and present. I want the bad and the ugly, not just the good...

From Talk

Serious Bakers... I need your best BUNDT CAKE recipe...

I need a killer, knock-em-dead bundt cake recipe. It needs to be one of those super moist, dense kinds. None of that light, airy stuff for me. A gooey filling down the middle works, but certainly isn't necessary. It can be iced or not, although the ideal cake will be one that's so rich and moist that icing is redundant.

Pretty much anything goes in terms of flavors and ingredients. Except nuts. I don't much like nuts baked into my baked goods (toasted crunchy ones on the icing is fine).

So? Can you help a girl out?

From Talk

Am I the only one who can't get ZITI?

This is totally not a big deal, because I seldom use tube-shaped pastas, and if I really needed it, I could just order some. Nevertheless, I think it's really weird, and I am totally curious (a characteristic of mine that's bound to kill me someday)... ziti seems like such a commonly specified pasta in recipes, and I just can't figure out why it's not around here. Similar shapes that are readily available in virtually every market in my area are penne, penne rigate and mostaciolli, and I can get each of them in a variety of diameters and lengths. But for the life of me, I cannot find ziti at any of my local markets. None. Zilch. Nada.

What do you think? Are there certain pasta shapes you can't find either? Do some shapes enjoy more popularity in some regions than others?

From Talk

Hoppy Easter, Serious Eaters...

An oldie but goodie about what it's like to be a chocolate bunny...

Have a fun day!

The Ten Most Recent Comments By LoCo

From Talk

Cause and Effect

1. The one that gets the largest bulk of my dollars is Costco. Then there are the supermarkets where the rest of my bucks are divvied up -- Pavilions (Safeway), Albertsons, Bristol Farms (expensive upscale owned by Albertsons), Ralphs (Kroger), Henrys. And the specialty stores -- a lovely mom & pop market (mainly for meat and fish), a great mid-east market, a rare visit to Trader Joes, and a pathetically small weekly farmers market that I've given up on. The closest Whole Foods is about 1-1/2 hours roundtrip, so I never shop there. I'm thinking of subscribing to a CSA in the near future.

2. No. I buy what looks good (quality) and is reasonably priced. Organic is not all it's cracked up to be, and is not one of my prime shopping considerations. The only influence my supermarket has on my organic buying decisions is whether it has fresh, unwithered, unbruised, ripe organic at a similar price to commercial. Where I shop, organic is almost always of far lesser quality and costs twice as much at minimum (usually more like triple).

3. If the Whole Foods store were closer, I might purchase more organic if only because of greater selection and/or quality. It wouldn't be due to a preference, it's just a statistical likelihood equation.

4. Not. Inflation is a normal fact of life, whether it be food, fuel, or whatever. It's something I expect and plan for -- no surprises here. My shopping continues to be a bizarre blend of frugality and indulgence... ;-)

5. Not in NYC.

6. Southern California (the OC).

Glad to help... Please post your final product, or tell us where we can see the outcome!

From Talk

Funny remarks you can re-use

Not food-related, but the first time I heard "That dog don't hunt" I almost wet myself from laughing so hard.

Also, the one I constnatly heard growing up, and one of my favorites to now use on my own family in response to the oft-repeated query,
"What's for dinner?"

"Food."

From Talk

Top Chef or Hell's Kitchen.....

Not a big fan of either, but if I'm going to watch one, it's going to be Top Chef for sure. It's at least got some entertainment value. I've tried to watch Hell's Kitchen and never have made it through more than 10 minutes. It's just obnoxious and unpleasant, a bit like movies that are full of pointless, gratuitous violence.

From Ed Levine Eats

In Search of the Perfect Food Review Rating System

I don't have a strong preference for letter grades vs. stars vs. numeric scores... as long as you understand the value of the rating, it's pretty much same-same to me. Being able to use plus or minus does allow for nuance, which is helpful. But the 14 possible ratings aren't much different than Zagat's 30 point scale (which in reality is more like a 14-29 scale).

But I do very strongly agree with the idea of "context" -- i.e., comparing an A+ dive to a B- haute cuisine? Their scores are relative.

Perfect real-life example: Out here in So California, the Zagat for In-N-Out chain is a 24 for food, while Morton's and Ruth's Chris are both rated 25 for food. Clearly, comparing an above-average fine-dining-type steak house to even the country's best drive-thru fast food joint, is like comparing saltines to artisanal bread. (Similarly, in NYC, Gray's Papaya at 20 vs. Nick & Stef's at 22 may be accurate, but in wholly different contexts.)

I've always wanted to see at least two levels of categorization, and ideally three or four... it's alway been my one huge peeve with Zagat, especially when you're in an unfamiliar area, and have no real way of being sure what kind of eatery you're in for.

From Talk

Lactose-free chocolate cake

Why not just use lactose-free milk? Substitute any real dairy butter, too, obviously. And make sure the chocolate you use in the recipe does not contain any milk products.

From Eating Out

What's the Best Mexican Food Town in the U.S.?

I'm going to say C. Los Angeles assuming that means the greater L.A. Metropolitan Area... which is pretty much all of So Calif...

Tex-Mex is good, but it ain't Mexican. Duh. It's Tex-Mex!

From Required Eating

Cook the Book: Cowgirl Cuisine

My mom has a limited repertoire, but what she does well, she does very very well. One that we always loved was lasagna. Not exciting to most I suppose, but she learned it from her friend's Sicilian grandma, and it's very, very good. We often didn't have much money, and this particular recipe was quite expensive to pull off on our family's limited budget. Also, the prep is pretty much an all day affair, and my mom was a career-gal. So, we didn't get it but a couple of times a year, usually for a special occasion.

She hasn't made it for us in years and years. I think I'll send her an email...

From Talk

Morels

OMG... sorry I can't tell you exactly how to fix them, but you are SO lucky... they're probably my very favoritist mushroom ever... I am green with envy...

mmmmmmm...

From Talk

Frog Legs?

BTW, I've noticed when I've eaten alligator that it doesn't have any of the swampy quality... a bit odd in my mind, given the similar lifestyle... anybody know why?

From Talk

Frog Legs?

My dad and a bunch of his friends went through a frog-gigging obsession when I was a teen, so yep, I've eaten them, and never thought it was all that odd. I do agree that they have a chicken-like quality in terms of texture, but I'm with Perky about the flavor. It is most assuredly not like chicken. The only way I've ever been able to describe them is "swampy" tasting. I feel the same way about catfish.

Anyway, I don't think eating them is at all strange or gross, and I'd certainly eat them again if they were served to me, but... definitely not one of my preferred foods.

Snake meat is very similar, but without that eau de swamp, and therefore much tastier IMHO.

Responses to Comments by LoCo

From Required Eating

Cook the Book: Cowgirl Cuisine

I want to win

From Talk

Cause and Effect

1. I live in NYC so i have access to everything from my local farmer's market and food coop to safeway and costco and everything else in between.

2. I buy mostly organic as I shop most regularly at my food coop and farmer's markets but i'm not so strict about it.

3. N/A

4. I'm pay more attention to how much food i have in the fridge before buying more, and make sure to waste as little as possible, but other than that my food purchases haven't really changed much. Food is important, and i'd much rather cut my clothes budget than my grocery budget.

5. I live in Park Slope, Brooklyn on the southern end (really Windsor Terrace)

From Required Eating

Cook the Book: Cowgirl Cuisine

From Required Eating

Cook the Book: Cowgirl Cuisine

Mom was a great cook, but my favorite was her meatloaf and try as I will I just can't duplicate it. She was special.

From Talk

Funny remarks you can re-use

I knew a restaurant manager who would respond to the question, "Where do you get your fish?" with the joking answer, "Oh, the kitchen." (waited for everyone to laugh then told them the source.)

My sister, while in college, was super busy her final year, student teaching, finishing a BA/MA program in ed, and working in a private dining club. So her philosophy on cooking and food was "Ten minutes to cook, ten minutes to eat." Needless to say, she weighed about 95 pounds.

From Talk

Cause and Effect

1. Smith's, Albertson's (big chains), Whole Foods (just took over a Wild Oats and is expensive and has the same old smelly meat counter that Wild Oats did) and a state-wide organic coop chain called La Montanita.

2. I purchase as much organic as I can at Smith's just to encourage them to carry organics. Then I go to La Montanita for the rest. Prices are about the same at either place. I sometimes purchase inorganic because of budget.

3. N/A. One mile from La Montanita.

4. No meat unless I go early in the morning and get the marked down and freeze it.

5. No.

6. New Mexico.

From Required Eating

Cook the Book: Cowgirl Cuisine

In additon to turkey with magnificent family-secrets dressing, Mom made a crown roast one Thanksgiving!

From Talk

Cause and Effect

1. what food resources/supermarkets are you near?

Kroger, Aldi, Meijer, House of Meats, GFS Marketplace, The Anderson's

2. do you purchase organic or inorganic food because of your supermarket?

nope

3. if you do not purchase organic, would you if a, for example, whole foods was nearby?

nope

4. how has the increase in food affected your purchases?

I shop at Aldi a lot more than I have previously. For example, yesterday milk was $2.39/gallon at Aldi while other stores were 80 cents to $1 more. However, proteins, fruits and vegetables will come from Kroger or Meijer as they're consistently better quality. I buy specialty items, like Polish sausage and rabbit, at House of Meats, and GFS Marketplace, being a retail outlet for foodservice supplier, is great for bulk items and restaurant-grade stuff. Of course when I have to have something from Zingerman's I know The Anderson's can get it ...

5. are you in nyc, and if so, what neighborhood?

n/a

6. if you do not live in nyc, just type in what state you live in

Michigan

From Talk

Cause and Effect

1. national chain supermarket, multiple farmer's markets
2. organic - there's a huge selection and the price difference is negligable
3. n/a
4. I pretty much only buy meat on sale.
5. no
6. WA

From Talk

Food-of-the-month gifts, I'd like_____

For a minute, I thought JEP was back! I am with wookie. I am also proud to be a food whore!!!!!!! Send me everything, every month.