mousie

She did the chicken chili all wrong, although it probably would be edible. I have been making variations on chicken chili for 20+ years. My tips: First poach your chicken (whole or pieces) with a few aromatics, when cooked through, remove from the broth, let cool and shred the meat. You can return the carcass to the broth and continue simmering for a rich broth which you can later use in your chili and save for later use too. Saute your onions and other veg, then add the ground chile, cumin and any other spice, and let the spices toast in the oil for a few minutes. Add the beer and let that reduce. Now you have some great concentrated flavor and you can add tomatoes, beans and the shredded meat and additional liquid and let that cook together until it is the desired consistency. Not all that different in terms of ingredients, but a big difference in the result. Sorry, just venting. More venting: "The Building", "The Ranch", "The Lodge" she really does live in her own little world, doesn't she.

Is that him in the Ocuvite commercial?

That's funny because I just saw part of an episode of Extra Virgin (I think it was last week) where Bourdain was their guest, forgot what they cooked though. Bourdain would probably be happy with a grilled ribeye. The grilled corn on the cob with red pepper butter from yesterday's repeat looked pretty good too. She should just avoid anything made with a milliion cans and seasoning packets. Definitely not the Chicken Spaghetti (yuk).

grisgris and I already have it. It's available used on Amazon for as little as $4. RagstoRiches, do not worry about not being able to finish it, you could read the whole thing in a few hours. I think we should do 2 - 3 chapters a week, and people can weigh in with their comments. BTW the chapters are about 10-15 pages each, you could do it easily just while waiting in line or something.

Hi grisgris, I watched a season 1 repeat a couple of weeks ago and there is definitely a difference. She's still wearing the same fugly tops though.

Hey orchidgal, glad to see you here, looking forward to the book thing. You can pick up a copy for <$4. It's worth it for the LOLZ.

When I moved into my house many years ago there was a electric coil type cooktop and two electric ovens. The previous owners must have thought that it was the "modern" thing to do when they remodeled, probably sometime in the 1970's. On the other side of the kitchen wall there was a gas heater so it was obvious that we had the capability. Sure enough the original gas hookup for the stove was right there behind the cabinets. I got rid of the electric as soon as I could. However, for those who don't have gas coming into the house and need to stay with electric, I have been hearing really good things about induction. You get the clean glass top, but it's supposed to be responsive like gas and very fast to heat up. Also, the surface stays cool, only the pot heats up. They are a bit more pricey than regular electrics though.

I just saw that Cooking Channel is re-running the Brian Boitano in Italy special today at 8pm ET. I know there are lots of people on the boards that are big Boitano fans. I'm looking forward to seeing it because I missed it when it originally aired.

I thought the episode was good too (if a bit graphic at times). But, apparently, a lot of bloggers, chefs on twitter and folks on other discussion boaoardrds thought it did a great disservice to Mexico. They think that a show like this will only reinforce the idea that Mexico is a scary and dangerous place. I'm not sure if it OK to post a link to another discussion board. PM me if anyone wants to know. Oh, just a note, I have traveled to different parts of Mexico about a dozen times over the years. Some touristy spots, some not so much, and have always enjoyed it never felt in danger.

Not quite as bad as this one: https://www.google.com/search?q=sandra+lee+evening+shorts&client=firefox-a&hs=pZt&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&channel=sb&tbm=isch&imgil=f3URDNur6FxcjM%253A%253Bhttps%253A%252F%252Fencrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com%252Fimages%253Fq%253Dtbn%253AANd9GcSuxMB8LlFIhHLo-dHL2qaS5LBf39YZxCYMrKRmkD9tUC_CxlIo%253B419%253B628%253Bij75RMlyM_OI-M%253Bhttp%25253A%25252F%25252Fwww.gofugyourself.com%25252Fsemi-fug-made-09-2011&source=iu&usg=__EoGBZ0zzda8NCP4mIu34NvSHvOY%3D&sa=X&ei=SJ5pU87FLdProATf6IGQBw&ved=0CEoQ9QEwBA#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=f3URDNur6FxcjM%253A%3Bij75RMlyM_OI-M%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fcdn02.cdn.gofugyourself.com%252Fwp-content%252Fuploads%252F2011%252F09%252Fus_weekly_23_wenn3512968-419x628.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.gofugyourself.com%252Fsemi-fug-made-09-2011%3B419%3B628 Or this one: https://www.google.com/search?q=sandra+lee+fairy+godmother&client=firefox-a&hs=VwY&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&channel=sb&tbm=isch&imgil=aVzHcD64sBchgM%253A%253Bhttps%253A%252F%252Fencrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com%252Fimages%253Fq%253Dtbn%253AANd9GcQUXK285uhFj6TqXSOVCxH1jTlkl9zlB4adekfzGYUwzXH2WYIl%253B575%253B370%253B--bHmJfl6DhCoM%253Bhttp%25253A%25252F%25252Ffoodnetworkhumor.com%25252F2009%25252F10%25252Fsandra-lees-halloween-costumes-a-photo-journey%25252F&source=iu&usg=__Zn6arqs2E9y3Ztfo-cwnN1Wh77s%3D&sa=X&ei=w55pU_6QEZXdoATcjoDoCg&ved=0CDUQ9QEwAg#facrc=_&imgrc=aVzHcD64sBchgM%253A%3B--bHmJfl6DhCoM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Ffoodnetworkhumor.com%252Fimg%252Fsandra-lee-costume-6.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Ffoodnetworkhumor.com%252F2009%252F10%252Fsandra-lees-halloween-costumes-a-photo-journey%252F%3B575%3B370

Are you may be thinking of "Chef at Home" Michael Smith who is on FN Canada? http://www.foodnetwork.ca/ontv/shows/chef-at-home/show.html?titleid=82664

I agree with everyone on John Besh. There should be every reason to like his show but it is always kind of boring. I have one of his books which is very good and I have been to one of his restaurants in New Orleans (he has about five), so a big fan. That episode of Iron Chef where he beat Batali is so classic, it was filmed not long after Katrina and Besh was known for all the work he did helping his fellow restauraters to recover. He really deserved that win.

Hi vera charles, glad you have been enjoying Laura Calder on French Food. I think it's one of the better shows for learning more about cooking and techniques. It's too bad that TCC seems to have limited it to about 10 episodes that they keep repeating. She made over 70 episodes for the original series shown on FN Canada. But we don't get to see the majority of those on TCC. BTW, Laura's newest cookbook was just released. It's called "Paris Express" and it's supposed to be about a modern take on French cooking. I am looking forward to my copy because I think she is a writer first and perhaps a reluctant TV personality.

CNN will typically air the previous week's episode one hour before the new one, on Sunday. There even might be mid-week repeats, but you would have to check your local cable listings. I am in the SF Bay Area and we get two airings of the previous week and the new episode each Sunday evening, so at 5 and 6 and then again at 8 and 9. Unless, there is a breaking news story and CNN decides to preempt this show. Last Sunday there were the devastating tornados in the Midwest, so it might have been pre-empted.

I know, breakfast sausage already has seasonings in it (sage is particularly strong), so then she added Italian seasoning which would just conflict with the original breakfast sausage flavor and isn't the same flavor as you would find in most Italian sausage anyway. Then she made some stupid comment like "why am I using breakfast sausage instead of Italian sausage, I can't tell you". You are hosting a cooking show, you should be able to provide instruction. Gah! I should really stop watching this. It's like FN told her to watch the SLop reruns to pick up tips.

I watched this S1/E1 today too. I thought that it was a little more real and not as contrived as the newer episodes. Ree looked more like a normal person and not overly made up or styled. The kids were a lot younger (of course) and cuter. But, TahitiGirl, I thought that Ladd refused the tomato salad. This episode was titled "Gathering Cattle". Overall, it seems like they are just repeating the same things over and over and the recipes are certainly not getting any better after 3 seasons.

You can get both books at amazon for as little as $0.01 (they charge $3.99 for shipping).

Skimming is fine. You are not going find either book a challenge to read. Simple cocktail: start with your favorite citrus juice, add a small amount of *plain* vodka and top off with sparkling water, adjust to taste. (Save the gernishes and choking/eye poking hazards for later) You can buy the small "airline" bottles of spirits if you don't want to commit to a large quantity. Cheers, RtoR.

Hi, everyone! Welcome back, Previously Amish, I have been a big fan of your blogs over the years as well as your Sandy-snark. GrisGris, sorry to hear about the hip surgery I hope goes as smoothly as possible for you. I broke my arm right below the shoulder a few years ago and had surgery to have metal pins inserted to hold it all together. It took a while but I got most of my range of motion back. Please do not worry about planning or starting the book club without me. I seem to disappear from the forums from time to time when work gets busy. So if anyone has some ideas or wants to get started, go right ahead and I will jump in when I can. We originally started talking about doing this last summer when "Recipe Box" was published, so that was the book we were talking about. It's a poignant saga of a harried career woman who learns to build a relationship with her teen daughter and her mother while simultaneously fending off the attentions of three (!!!) handsome men. Hope that little description piques some interest. Remember, all this wisdom about mother/daughter love was written by a woman who has no children and apparently hasn't spoken to her own mother in over 20 years. I will look forward to further comments from y'all. If the "Recipe Box" goes well we can dust off "Made From Scratch" and give that a go too.

Let's do the book club!