annzeepark914

We're going to be in the Mid-Hudson Valley around April 14-15 and I wonder if anyone here can recommend some places to dine (could be fantastic cafes, diners as well as nice restaurants). We're staying in Fishkill and visiting Beacon and Cold Spring.

DeLurker: Yes...I use just a little sesame oil for flavor and fragrance. A little goes a long way! I looked up pepperoni rolls and found this recipe which I printed and want to try one of these days. I thought it sounded like what you were describing. I think it might be simpler to make than strombolis or calzones: http://www.food.com/recipe/pepperoni-rolls-185022

DeLurker: Thanks for your tips. My fried rice never quite tastes great...it's just ok. Glad to hear that I don't have to use day old rice (I've seen that tip over & over on the internet). Peanut oil sounds good. I usually do a combo of veg oil and sesame oil. I bet the peanut oil is one of the missing ingrediants!

I can count on one hand the times I've seen a cyclist obey the traffic laws over the past 20 years. They expect to share the road with us (drivers) but they love to zip through red lights.

One other suggestion is that wonderful Indian cheese, paneer. I'd love to make it but am afraid it won't taste like the kind in the Indian restaurants.

If I were adventuresome like you I'd try making a pizza. I'd get that 00 flour from an Italian store and research the 'net for the most authentic recipe. Make the sauce the way they do in Italian-American homes. Get the best mozzarella. It's not easy getting it "right" so it would be a challenge.

I tried falafel for the very first time at a Turkish restaurant on Saturday night. Delicious! Kinda crunchy, a little spicy but not too much. It was sitting on a bed of creamy hummus that was out of this world good. I really like Turkish food - it's like Greek with the volume turned up (as Ina would say). On a side note: I've read about falafel for years and years, in books and in articles about food but I couldn't remember how to pronounce it. Finally I came up with fell awful...that worked ;>)

I believe the duck paneling was created by an uncle so that's why she kept it. With this being her grandparents' house, filled with so many memories, I think she's having a hard time renovating/restoring. On a side note, I found that comment (about calling her grandpa to update him on things she's doing in the house and he responds by asking her if she found someone to marry) so typical of a loving and concerned grandpa--and so funny too.

I kept wanting to call her and offer to send a few area rugs for those rooms with hardwood floors. They looked so cold and forbidding. Plus, when the family shows up and has a reunion it's gonna be one noisy gathering due to accoustics. I liked the fireplace. It needs a screen in front of it, doesn't it (in case a log explodes and scatters sparks)? I like the show, though. I like seeing crummy old rooms cleaned & spruced up.

I made Chicken Tortilla Soup the other night and it was very good. It's a Pioneer Woman recipe (surprise!). It needed more seasoning but otherwise, it was really delicious. I used Fire Roasted Tomatoes instead of Rotel (didn't have it/don't like it). It calls for 2 cans of black beans drained but I rinsed them a little first which maybe I shouldn't have. I just don't like ingesting all that stuff the beans are sitting in. Also called for 3 Tbsps of masa which I didn't have so I ground up a couple corn tortillas and used that instead. So, my soup may have been a bit different from the PW. Makes a good supper w/ a salad.

So sad that it's over with but I enjoyed tonight's last episode...especially the new & improved Thomas getting a chance to come back and take over Carson's job.

And, let me add, men bent way over the foodmaking. I can understand tall men bending over food but why not make their cooking islands higher? Emeril was the first, IIRC. He was/is always bent over whatever foods he was/is preparing. It drove me nuts and I stopped watching his shows. It just looked unhygienic for some reason (along with the women and their long hair!) plus it just made my back ache. I also recall Julia Child bent over but I think that was in her later years when maybe her health caused that (plus, she had her cooking island and countertops built to accommmodate her height in her personal kitchen, even way back in the day, bless her heart!)

Oh, Lord. Keithie was funny a long time ago when he first had his MSNBC show (especially his wars with O'Reaaaally, complete with organ music). Yeah...if he'd take some *prescribed* meds and get back on as even a keel as possible, maybe he could do a show again and be fun for a change (instead of all that anger...let O'Donnell rant and rave with the anger).

I might have to watch tonight since they've got to be doing something about the small hands with The Donald's reassurance that all is well down there ;>(

I tried a sauce last night that was from a recipe for ribs. It was soy sauce, lime juice, honey, Asian chili garlic...oy vey, it tasted terrible. I was going to put it on a pork tenderloin. Then I added blackberry jelly, more honey...ugh! Then I tried adding bbq sauce and then, wisely, I threw it out and started over with bbq sauce, some honey and some fresh lemon juice and voila! So I put that on the tenderloin, roasted it and it was tasty. Whew! So much for finding a recipe in Parade magazine--some are good and some are vile.

The waiter came upstairs to the kitchen and told the chef "There's a woman downstairs who looks like your mother". That's what was so funny to Ina, that she looked like his mom. It was cute!

All I have to hear is the piano starting to play the theme music (and the scene of the two loons) and On Golden Pond always gets me tearing up. That's Squam Lake, NH and it's absolutely beautiful (and they show it in all its gorgeousness). Another and more current movie is Brooklyn. I hate crying in public and had to suck in my tears during different scenes. Saorse can even emote with her beautiful eyes and her character was so darn homesick I could feel it.

Both Ina and Giada have attractive hands with a nice manicure and pale polish. No rings are worn on their shows. It just looks better when preparing food (and even when they're not handling food, I don't think either one is wearing a ring).

Oh their fans have already begun over at Golden Skates forum. I made a little comment about how the obsessive V&M fans are coming out of the woodworks and some of them got me for it. One stupid trend V&M started that seems to have almost died out (thank God) are the little chats and casting adoring eyes at each other as they approached center ice to start their programs. I guess it was supposed to say to the judges, "Hey, we're a couple, we're really "one" or somethin' like that. Now, only Chock & Bates are still doing it. Geez, I thought we were through with those poor sports and their fawning/vicious fans.

There used to be an onion dip made out of Mrs. Grass's low sodium dried onion soup. They don't make it anymore...just regular which is unfortunate cause the low sodium one was delicious. Does anyone know of another low sodium dried onion soup? I'm another salty snack lover and prefer it to sweets (altho' I wouldn't turn my nose up at cupcakes, cake, ice cream, etc). I could eat a whole bag of lime taco chips and I wouldn't need anything to dip them in either.

Really? That's interesting. It's amazing how he's changed over the years (if you watch his first show, he's quite likeable--no smugness, no strutting around).

I saw the Paris special this morning and loved it! My only wish is that they'd left out the whiskey sour making and shown more of Paris (and tell viewers who don't know Paris very well which section the stores/restaurants were in). Ina looks good in that black cape. Loved the cooking sessions with the young chefs - especially the guy who owns Spring and the story of how they met--funny! I would think that the fish would need to marinate a bit longer in the lemon/lime juices in order to "cook"...but they seemed to enjoy it. Wish I had gone to Poillane while in Paris. I love French bread. The boat trip looked like fun. They could get out of the wind when they wanted to eat (or get warm) and stand up and enjoy the exhilaration of being out on the water on a brisk day. Jeffrey's a good sport. There are a lot of people of his stature who aren't fun to be around but I think I'd enjoy sharing a meal with him and Ina. chessiegal--did you write down the name of all these places so you can visit them? Made me want to go back :>)

About the only program I watch on FN is Barefoot Contessa and I've seen all her shows over & over (except the latest in Paris--gotta catch it this weekend or bust!!) I'm so glad to learn I'm not the only one who finds Bobby Flay's last two shows offensive (Throwdown & Beat Bobby Flay). The guy is so smug I want to reach into the TV and smack him. Can't watch Pioneer Woman because of that little smile that never, ever goes away. The nighttime stuff is all competition which is boring to me.

Oh no...I sure didn't like the family room (but then I loathe knotty pine and paneling of any kind except white) and the dreary old panels of rural scenes. It didn't go with the mod bathroom at all. I can remember houses (and our family summer cottage) with rooms like that and I just didn't like being in them...they were depressing to me. I can understand why she didn't cover up her grandpa's writing on the wall (I'd want to hold onto that too!!) but if other people are going to be using the house or buying it, they might not care for it. I like this show but I'm not caring for this house renovation so far. Maybe 50's style isn't as interesting as 20's (that Tudor is still my favorite rehab).

Stanley Tucci is not only the MVP, he also had the best line. His character said that it took an outsider to get the ball rolling (Marty Baron, the new hire and a Jew). And he included himself, an Armenian, as also being a very important cog in the wheel. One other thought I had was that Ben Bradlee, Jr. had a similar experience to his dad's Watergate investigation experience. Two big city newspapers went after VIP targets successfully. I wonder if his dad (who in 2001 would have still been healthy), gave him advice.