vera charles

Even Rhoda called him Lou. In one memorable scene, Mary addressed him with her stammering Mr. Grant, then Rhoda arrived with a Hiya, Lou! The only times I remember her calling him Lou were the episode with their date, where she signaled the end of both of their discomfort by addressing him as Mr. Grant, and once when she was mad at him for doing something rotten and she called him Louis, which was apparently what his mother called him when she was mad at him.

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-tom-selleck-water-complaint-20150707-story.html Tom Selleck is in trouble for stealing water in California.

Andrew Cuomo officiated at the July 4th wedding of Billy Joel and his 4th bride. No word on whether Aunt Sandy was there or not. I can't imagine her passing up any kind of celebrity do, so I'd bet she was lurking around in the background.

LOL, I will have to ask my mom for the recipe for Funeral Cake. She makes it whenever there is a large gathering of people to eat it, so it's not just for funerals. I have had it as a sheet cake, layer cake, cupcakes - it's very versatile. I think the icing is an Ina recipe, I know my mom has mentioned that she puts espresso powder in the icing because Ina recommends it. I'll see what I can find out. :)

I grew up in Western Maryland and both of my parents are from West Virginia. I think taking food to people after a death in the family is done all over the country, but especially in smaller towns where everybody knows each other. My mother has perfected a chocolate cake with ganache icing and the church ladies ask her to make one and bring it to any after-funeral luncheon that they serve. In our family, we call it Funeral Cake. Also, I never heard of that green been casserole until they started advertising it on TV. I can honestly say I've never tasted it and I don't ever want to. The amount of salt in that thing? It makes me thirsty just thinking about it.

What is going on? If the Top Chef comments are here, where are the Barefoot Contessa comments?

To me, cilantro tastes like a very strong parsley. It has a stronger herbiness, for lack of a better word. It doesn't taste like soap at all.

This is an interesting article about Ina's apartment in Paris. For whoever was wondering where exactly it is, she mentions several specific landmarks that are within walking distance. It shouldn't be too hard to figure out the location. http://www.barefootcontessa.com/downloads/Town_and_Country.pdf

I just heard this morning! She's back: http://www.eater.com/2015/5/8/8573865/sandra-lee-semi-homemade-lifestyle-tv-show-abc I also did not know she has her own line of It's Cocktail Time brand margarita mix. http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sandra-lee-americas-most-recognized-host-bottles-the-best-time-of-the-day-in-sandra-lee-cocktail-time-margaritas-300051255.html Oh, happy day! Aunt Sandy has been laying low for too long. I can't wait for this trainwreck to hit the airwaves.

I have always used chuck, since that is the traditional choice. The whole purpose of the dish was to take a tough piece of meat and prepare it in a way that makes it tender. I wish I could remember what red wine I used the last time, because it turned out great. We don't normally drink red wine and got some as a gift. I looked it up and it retailed for about $10 - $12, so it wasn't super expensive.

We are just catching up this season using OnDemand. We watched Josh Groban and Julie Chen last night. I know Josh Groban got some flack here for being so laid back and not very exciting, but I enjoyed his show. As a person of German ancestry, I loved how he was surprised to find out he had a German ancestor. I actually said out loud, "Yeah, you and everybody else, buddy". 1/2 the people in the US have German ancestors, even though they might not know it. I also really liked the Julie Chen episode, even though they didn't go back very far. I teared up when she saw her grandfather's picture on the wall at the school and all the children said his name. What a surprise!

I use half butter and half Crisco - butter for the flavor, Crisco for the texture. My mom always used all Crisco but I think there is a noticeable difference in flavor from the butter. I have made all butter when I didn't have any Crisco in the house. It tastes great but the dough was very soft and difficult to work with.

The internet never forgets. LOL

I think Ina's shirts are a solution to how she can stay in the background and let the food be the focus. I heard somewhere that the original shirt was from Eileen Fisher, a purveyor of very expensive but sort of shapeless clothing. Ina decided that this one shirt was the be all, end all, so she took it to a tailor to have it duplicated in every color they could think of. The pants, I have never heard any explanation for.

It depends on what you are looking for in a brownie. I love the Ghiardelli mix because I like a fudgy brownie that doesn't taste raw, if that makes any sense. I find that most other mixes give a more cake-like consistency, which isn't what I am going for. And other mixes that are supposed to be fudgy just taste, to me, like they are undercooked, which I don't like. I guess the reason there are so many varieties is because everybody's taste is different. : ) I bake many things from scratch - cakes, pies, tarts, cookies - and my son was very disappointed to find out, when he was in elementary school, that I made brownies from mix. But those are the ones that we like. I also use Krusteaz mix for lemon bars. I haven't found any recipe that comes close to how good they taste.

I bake a lot of things from scratch but for brownies, it's hard to beat a Ghirardelli mix. That recipe looks very good, though. Thanks for posting it!

My beef bourguignon was a huge success and there are plenty of leftovers for lunches during the week. I served it with egg noodles topped with butter and parsley, plus a side of green beans. Right now, I have bread pudding in the oven - not Ina's recipe but not too far off. Snow makes me hungry!

We are having a snowy day here, so I have Ina's beef bourguignon in the oven. The smell is making me hungry!

I think preference for boxed cake over homemade depends on what you are looking for. I don't like cakes made from mixes because they have a much smaller crumb and moister texture. I know people who have always eaten mixes who think homemade cake is dry, since it isn't spongy like mix. To each his own, I guess.

When my husband pointed out to me that Nikki showed up at the dinner table, then didn't even have one line, my response was, "I know, it's my favorite episode ever!" Seriously, though, the continuity drives me nuts. They are having financial troubles, then they're not. Timelines of when she was a nurse, when he was in the military, when they got married, how old their kids are - they change with the whims of whoever is writing each episode.

I really wish we knew more of Baker's backstory. I would love to see a storyline in which someone who knows what an awesome cop Baker used to be (because you just know that she was) questions her role as Frank's glorified secretary. And somehow Frank figures out how important she is and acknowledges it.

There was a football picture hanging in Lou's office and someone asked if it was from college. Lou responded that it was actually high school. When the other person expressed disbelief, he shrugged and said that his teachers called him sir. http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQevl-MVuz9t0UyrwzXlPkG26YoXATzvFyQFaNAq9zc4Ok77l0J:static.parade.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/ed-asner.jpg

The second apartment was so 70's - carpet, ugly orange tile in the kitchen, just bland and featureless. Part of the charm of the first apartment was the quirky Victorian look. Mary's pants look so bizarre in that photo. It's like she doesn't have any feet!

I love those books! Thanks to them, I knew why Frank had a picture of Theodore Roosevelt hanging in his office.

I pulled out Nigella Express tonight and made Mirin Glazed Salmon. http://www.nigella.com/recipes/view/mirin-glazed-salmon-21# Served it with rice and edamame and it was so delicious. I had forgotten that the cover of the book features Nigella texting on a flip phone. My, how time flies!