Profile

Susquehanna

Born in a city on the Susquehanna River.

  • Location: The east coast

Favorite Yogurt

Give Siggi's cultured skyr a try. It's Icelandic and very creamy, like strained Greek yogurt.

Picking Up Two Live 90lb Boar Pigs!!!

@C Baughn -- Try to pay no mind to glib detractors. Your intentions are admirable to many. Hope you get the information you seek and experience all the best those beautiful animals have to offer you!

Ideas for Gifting Food in Jars

This jarred honey, walnut and dried fruit topping from Martha Stewart could work well with your granola:

http://www.marthastewart.com/277236/gifts-in-a-jar/@center/307035/santas-workshop#277122

Mortar and pestle

Before I had a food processor, I used the M & P to crush grahams to make a cheesecake crust. Which reminds me that I love cheesecake and will be needing to make one. Soon.

Hardest Kitchenware to Clean?

I have this jade glass Fire King baking pan that holds on to grime like crazy. Always needing to rub it down with baking soda or Barkeeper's Friend to get it clean.

Greasy Meat Farts

I lost my mind when Lorenzo said he thought he was clicking on a recipe.

Cook the Book: 'Burma: Rivers of Flavor'

Most exotic thing in the recent past? Lebanese grilled kofta. Perhaps not the most exotic but we really enjoyed it. Would love this recipe book, though! My sister has cooked from and raved about recipes (and photos) from Hot, Sour, Salty, Sweet for years. I don't have a cookbook remotely like Burma: Rivers of Flavor, so it would be a valuable addition to my collection.

Win Two Tickets to the Lucky Rice Grand Feast on May 4th

First dim sum experience on some Sunday in a little strip mall outside of D.C. Full house, lots of delicious Chinese food going around.

Our Search for the Best Zinfandel Under $20

My favorite are Peachy Canyon Vineyards zins from Paso Robles, CA. Visited their old school house tasting room in 2008 and was really impressed with their 2008 Westside Zinfandel. It's a pretty laid back operation, not uptight a bit.

In a Pickle: Small Batch Sauerkraut

Just prepped two jars of kraut using this recipe. Much appreciated! Thanks go to Lorenzo for the supplemental info. My kraut certainly won't be ready to eat tomorrow for good luck but I wish you all a happy New Year!!

Dishes for someone that doesn't like Thanksgiving food

Your Mom's oven will be occupied with the bird and the range might be full of traditional sides.

If she (or you) has a slow cooker, a pork shoulder or your favorite braised cut of meat could work. She could put the alternative protein in the cooker at the same time she puts the bird in the oven.

Whatever you want, what would you eat right now?

A bowl of steamy pho ga soup with a ton of basil, lime and nuoc cham and Vietnamese coffee.

@bitchincamero: Congrats! Hope you are feeling good. I haven't been around for so long. Miss all the familiar voices here. I had a baby boy last April . . . wonder how many SE'ers have multiplied since the site started. Didn't Alaina just have a baby, too?!

Video: Cat in a Banana Split Costume Eating a Banana

Oh my God. I had no idea that cats could eat bananas. Oh and by the way, this made me laugh my ass off.

cake balls are gross

Good point, hmw0029. I bet portiaf does eat sushi. And there is -- of course -- a very easy work around here for the germaphobes.

Just wear gloves when rolling the cake balls.

What's your favorite Indian dish?

My favorite dish right now is Avial, which originated in Kerala and is a spicy coconut-based vegetable curry.

Lemon verbena - what can I do with it?

Love the stuff. You can use it to flavor pound cake, scones, compound butter and also use it in a hair rinse and potpourri.

http://oldfashionedliving.com/lemonverbena.html
http://www.theepicentre.com/Spices/lemon_verbena.html
http://www.superbherbs.net/Lemonverbena.htm

And if you love the smell as much as I do, you can wear it as a perfume.

http://www.fragonard.com/parfums_grasse/eaux-de-toilette/verveine-c-86.htm

cake balls are gross

@hmw0029: Cake balls are indeed a great idea for messed up scratch cake or cupcakes. I actually "favorited" Lucy Baker's SE article on cake balls a while back after my scratch Ghirardelli-based chocolate cupcakes slipped off my car hood. I used quality ingredients but adapted her methods. And, btw, chocolate chocolate cake balls are *aces* with coffee.


Serious Heat: What's Spicy in Your Fridge?

I'd like to add Swad coconut chutney, if you're a fan of South Indian dosa (like me). It's available at Patel Bros.

Perceived Food Passion vs. Actual Food Passion

@Likeswords: Well put.

Puff Pastry- What's your favorite?

(delete "on crusty bread").

Puff Pastry- What's your favorite?

I usually buy TJ's puff pastry. We've done it baked with camembert or brie and covered with mango chutney, apricot preserves or fig jam on crusty bread. We also do a sloppy joe and cheddar pocket pie, like @arwenb above.

Looking forward eating this stuff again when the weather cools down in the fall.

State College, PA suggestions (not just for restaurants!)

India Pavilion on Calder Way offers a very reasonable all-you-can-eat lunch buffet for $6.95, Seoul Garden on Locust Lane has wonderful Korean food and Viet Thai (in the stone cottage) off of North Atherton actually does justice to Vietnamese and Thai food. They've all been around since I lived in State College (8 years ago) and they are still there . . . which must be some testament to quality.

@Dcarl1: Agree 100% on Saint's for coffee. I caffeinated there often as an undergraduate and for a year after graduation. Webster's Bookstore on Allen Street also has good coffee and tea but I hear they're behind on rent and may be closing soon. Sad.

Grilling: Keftedes

This post is quite timely. The family reunion for the Greek half of my family is next weekend and I can't go. So, I'll have to get my Greek on some other way! I've never seen keftedes done on the grill and am very curious. Will try this.

Road trip suggestions: NY to Pittsburgh to Buffalo to Boston!

If you stop in State College, PA, try Herwig's. It's an adorable Austrian bistro run by the Brandstatter family and is located on College Avenue.

The Berkey Creamery at Penn State is also fun to visit if you end up on campus in University Park.

Enjoy your trip!

Food lover or food snob?

Endorsing comments by ell.victor, cycorider and LizLemon. Yes, yes and yes.

Sun Tea

I love sun tea -- my mom used to make it and nobody ever got sick from it. But a friend recently mentioned that it wasn't safe and cited this Snopes.com article as proof.

Have you ever gotten sick from sun tea or know of others who have?

Mayonnaise in Your Chocolate Cake?

Does anybody especially enjoy chocolate cake made with mayonnaise? I stumbled upon some cake recipes with it and want to try one but I wonder how cakes using mayo stand up to cakes using more traditional cake methods where the eggs and oil are added separately.

Is Chartbeat Causing User Profile Problems?

Has anyone else unsuccessfully attempted to access other people's SE user profiles? I noted that the site was hung-up tracking stats from Chartbeat prior to failing to load a profile.

I ask because I like to follow others' incisive and educational comments via their profiles.

Tell Your Watermelon Story

If you've got one, spill it. Do you love pickling the rind? Spiking it with booze? Have you covered it with sunblock, thrown it in a pool and tried to fight for it?

Actually, a posse of surly neighborhood kids and I did just that when I was growing up. We'd split-up in to teams and see who could wrastle it up to "our side" of the deck first. Plenty of thrown elbows and underwater kicks. We'd always shake hands and eat the watermelon afterward, sunblock and all. After all these years, I can't believe any parent would let this go down in their pool! Nobody ever got (too) hurt, luckily. That's my story.

What Should Federer Eat?!

You are Roger Federer. You just won the French Open at Roland Garros in Paris, France. You are, quite possibly, the best tennis player of all time.

What are you going to eat to celebrate your win?

Tell Your Braggart Story

Who can fault a cook who is humbly proud of their hard work and progress in the kitchen? Not me.

Though, I bet some of us have friends or acquaintances who run their mouths about their expensive appliances and "always perfect" cooking. Instead of being helpful, they're cutting up others' efforts in the kitchen -- including yours -- to bolster their ego.

Do you know a culinary braggart and if so, how to do you react to them? Tell your story.

Tell Your Honey Story

I don't have a great honey story. But the sight and smell of honey used to make me gag and run when I was a child. Isn't that odd? As an adult, I developed a love for it, especially the dark and flavorful buckwheat honey. It's so good in tea, on oatmeal or buttered bread. Also, the fact that using locally-produced honey can help your body develop a resistance to local allergens is wonderful.

So, do you like or hate honey? Tell your story.

HBO Food


I wish HBO Food existed.

They could produce a show with a format like "Real Time with Bill Maher" but have Alton Brown or Anthony Bourdain (or both) moderate on various candid, food-centric topics in the world. Guests on the show could include anyone they want -- because HBO would give them creative freedom -- but most likely they'd feature chefs and others in the food service and hospitality industries.

Other ideas for shows on HBO Food?

A Buzzkill Halloween

My desire to create a tiki Halloween for the neighborhood kids had to be shelved for next year. Stuff came up, e.g. I had to attend a funeral yesterday . . . on Halloween. And I didn't even carve a pumpkin.

So, what was your Halloween buzzkill?

Complaints about the candy? Did a kid trip up your front steps and break his arm? Parents want to sue you now? Talk to me.

Tiki Halloween Ideas?

I'd like to do something fun and different for the trick-or-treating neighborhood kids. So, inspired by a recent SE article on tiki bars, Tiki Halloween it is! Planning to decorate our front porch with tiki torches, scary pumpkins with tiki god faces and I'd like to give out tropical candy.

I need tropical candy ideas and other creative ideas for porch tiki decorations. Help me out!

Freaky Frozen Food Habits?

Do you like to eat frozen foods that are not traditionally eaten frozen?

I adore noshing on frozen vegetables and I've learned that this strikes more than one person as really odd. Frozen peas, edamame and especially corn. I also love to dip frozen green beans in a creamy horseradish dip.

How about you? Anybody eat unusually frozen foods?!?

25 Cocktails Everyone Should Know

We who like to mix drinks at home do it for many reasons: First, it's cheaper than drinking out. Second, it's fun to mix your own drinks at home. Third, it's even more fun to mix drinks for other people at home. Any self-respecting home bartender should have a mental Rolodex Excel spreadsheet of favorite classic cocktail recipes. Today, I present the 25 essential drinks that I think everyone should be able to make. More

The Food Lab Mini: Crispy Taco Shells Made of Cheese? Yes!

In their 2011 post about "Italian Tacos", the folks from Ideas in Food fry a slice of provolone cheese on the griddle until it's a deep golden brown, then fold it over a rolling pin, tuile-style, and let it harden into the shape of a little crispy taco shell before stuffing it with fried mortadella and pickled peppers. It looks delicious. I decided to use the same technique to up my breakfast taco game. More

How to Brew Coffee in a Chemex

It's easy, it's delicious, and it couldn't be more stylish. In recent years, the super-simple Chemex coffee brewer has come out of the garage sale and into the limelight and regained its place on the counter and coffee bar. The handsome flask-carafe is American-made (Pittsfield, Massachusetts) item of both form and function, available surprisingly widely from grocery store aisles to haute cafes. So how do you make coffee in it? More

Sauced: Basil Pesto

Pesto is ripe for experimentation but if we're talking traditional, it's going to be basil, pine nuts, garlic, olive oil, and Parmesan combined into a smooth paste. I really wanted to go Grandma-style and make it in a mortar and pestle, but unfortunately don't own one large enough. That led me to the simpler, food processor method. More

Hot Dog of the Week: The Original Hot Dog Shop, aka 'Dirty O' in Pittsburgh

There's a handful of hot dog places around the country where you know as soon as you walk in the door that it's the real deal. Some sort of eccentric Coney Island atmosphere meets dive bar. The place is packed to the gills with a weird mix of businessmen, drunk college kids, hipsters and construction workers all chowing down on dogs that you couldn't replicate anywhere else in the world. Call it hot dog magic. Papaya King, Lafayette Coney Island, Rutt's Hut, Charlie's Pool Room, Ben's Chili Bowl, Gene & Jude's all have it. And most definitely the "Dirty O." More

Eat for Eight Bucks: Easy Slow-Cooker Pork Tacos with Red Cabbage Crunch and Avocado

I love soft tacos, at home and at restaurants. Since a taco's filling is infinitely variable, the choice lies in your hands to make them cheap or expensive. You could buy fresh fish, for example, but that would up the price a bit. You could also consider a wide range of potential garnishes, everything from salsa to shredded cheese to cilantro to black beans. On the other hand, if you're looking to save money, the trick is to minimize. Use a filling that's hearty but cheap, and practice rigid discipline with respect to your garnishes. More

Naomi Duguid's Golden Egg Curry

Eggs and tomato sauce seem to pop up everywhere these days--it seems most chefs have their own version of eggs in purgatory or else shakshuka somewhere in their repertoire. But the Golden Egg Curry in Naomi Duguid's Burma, is decidedly different. The eggs are hard-boiled, peeled, and then fried in turmeric-laced peanut oil. The tomato sauce is sparse but redolent of sauteed shallots, garlic, and chiles, leaving the eggs to take center stage. There may not be a runny yolk to mop up, but the golden crisped exterior of the eggs more than makes up for it. More

In a Pickle: Small Batch Sauerkraut

Most of us don't have the space for large sauerkraut crocks or the desire to eat it every single day of winter (thankfully, it's not our only way to keep away the scurvy anymore). However, for those of you who have a taste for homemade sauerkraut, here's a way to make it in small batches without any special equipment (beyond a single quart jar). More

Mixed Review: How to Make Cake Balls

Somehow, the cake ball phenomenon managed to escape me. Until now. For this week's Mixed Review I decided to give you a detailed account of just what it takes to whip up a batch of the impressive looking yet deceptively simple bite-sized treats. Cupcakes, meet your match. More

FDA Going After BPA in Plastic Bottles, Food Packaging

From the New York Times today comes word that the FDA, reportedly getting a little tougher these days when it comes to food safety, has turned its eye toward bisphenol-A (BPA), the substance used in food packaging that has inspired much worry among the public — especially parents: The agency said Friday that it had "some concern about the potential effects of BPA on the brain, behavior and prostate gland of fetuses, infants and children," and would join other federal health agencies in studying the chemical in both animals and humans. The agency points to ways you can limit your exposure: hhs.gov/safety/bpa Of course, like anything the government does, nobody's happy. The chemical lobby says the FDA is going too... More

So I bought a ham...

I had a request for ham for Christmas Eve, and despite the fact that there are two of us, the request was for a HAM, not the little Niman Ranch thing that I usually pick up. So now I have... More