Pot Luck

Food Fight (4.00 / 3)

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by: Eddie C @ Mon Dec 12, 2011 at 11:29:15 AM UTC

You are on, good sir! (4.00 / 3)

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by: JayinPhiladelphia @ Mon Dec 12, 2011 at 12:20:59 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

D'oh! (4.00 / 2)

Totally blew the header on that one.  Should have started with...

"And in this corner, from the Fighting City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania..."

:-D

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by: JayinPhiladelphia @ Mon Dec 12, 2011 at 12:27:09 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Eddie wins. (4.00 / 3)

You take major points for the geezer sneaking a peek at the tasty ankles of the cook book lady, but the juxtaposition of the McDonald's sign with the Amish Market sign, separated by an oasis of sanity, wins.

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by: count @ Mon Dec 12, 2011 at 13:50:00 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

I reply with a tune (4.00 / 3)

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by: Eddie C @ Tue Dec 13, 2011 at 02:56:33 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Italian Sausage (4.00 / 3)

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by: Crider @ Tue Dec 13, 2011 at 17:07:18 PM UTC

That sausage or salami? (4.00 / 2)

from the white on the outside and the metal clip on the tops, they look more like salami to me.

Salami is a fermented ground meat product meant to be eaten as is, sausage is a ground product meant to be cooked prior to eating.

LOL, grandfather's testicles. Wonder who's grandfather?
;-P

Normal people scare me.... But not as much as I scare them.

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by: JoanneRigutto @ Tue Dec 13, 2011 at 17:58:13 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Never heard of dry sausage? (4.00 / 2)

Really?

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by: Crider @ Tue Dec 13, 2011 at 19:20:19 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

I've heard of dry Italian Salami - one of my favorite foods (4.00 / 2)

but not sausage. All of the sausage I've ever seen or heard of has been product that had to be cooked prior to eating. The only sausage I've ever seen that didn't have to be cooked first is the precooked stuff from the store.

Could be a regional semantics thing though.

Kind of reminds me of the osprey discussion Harold and I had one time. What we call osprey here, back in Missouri they called fish hawks. And what we call vultures they called buzzards.

Normal people scare me.... But not as much as I scare them.

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by: JoanneRigutto @ Tue Dec 13, 2011 at 19:39:33 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Yup, it is a regional definition issue (4.00 / 2)

all salami is sausage, but not all sausage is salami. When I was growing up, my dad never referred to salami as sausage and that's a habit he got from his mom from northern Italy. Sausage was always ground meat mixed with herbs, spices, salt, etc. and meant for immediate (within days)consumption after cooking. Plain ground meat without seasonings was always called just ground pork, chicken, beef, turkey, etc. But what's in your picture was always called salami.

Sausage
Salami

Normal people scare me.... But not as much as I scare them.

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by: JoanneRigutto @ Tue Dec 13, 2011 at 19:47:22 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

regional definition (4.00 / 1)

When I was growing up, our favorite "salamis" were explicitly called sausage - summer sausage and thuringer sausage. I thought of those as northern European. Nobody ever called them salami, but the population was much more British/Scandinavian/north European than Italian. When I got to Baltimore I found out about Genoa sausage, which might be a southern European equivalent and is often called Genoa salami here.

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by: count @ Wed Dec 14, 2011 at 02:38:51 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Ha! (4.00 / 2)

It's called Genoa Salami here too.

And now that you mention it, I see Thuringer sausage and Summer Sausage in the stores. Interestingly, they don't have the characteristic white skin like Genoa Salami and Dry Italian Salami.

Normal people scare me.... But not as much as I scare them.

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by: JoanneRigutto @ Wed Dec 14, 2011 at 03:32:40 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Did you hear the one about.... (4.00 / 3)

PUERTO RICO: The governor, Luis Fortuño, answered with a joke a journalist's question about the fact that the government of Puerto Rico allows the food multinational, Monsanto, to rent over 500 acres of land in possible violation of article six of the Constitution that prohibits dominance of land by a single agricultural corporation, while farmers in Puerto Rico have serious problems of survival.

Lol!  Yeah, breaking the law always splits my sides...

"If a man is as wise as a serpent, he can afford to be as harmless as a dove" Cheyenne

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by: Maracatu @ Wed Dec 14, 2011 at 18:49:56 PM UTC

Got enough whole grains today? (4.00 / 2)

I was checking out the website for the new book Inside the Jewish Bakery, which has recipes and lore on the "Golden Age" of the Jewish Bakery in the US, the 1950s and '60s. They didn't give away any recipes, but they did post a few excerpts:

On average, the Jews of Eastern Europe consumed about two pounds of rye bread each day and less than half a pound of wheat bread, much of which found its way to the tables of the wealthy or was consumed either in challah or as a roll, which even the poor Jew could afford. In many places, breakfast consisted of rye bread with tea, chicory or soup; lunch and dinner were usually rye bread accompanied by a piece of salted herring or a sour soup like shchav (sorrel), borscht or rosl (fermented beet brine) with a bit of sour milk or perhaps some cabbage and root vegetables.

Wow. 2 1/2 lbs. That's a lot of bread. The the rest of the diet sounds like maybe it was typical winter fare.

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by: Crider @ Wed Dec 14, 2011 at 20:47:24 PM UTC

Wow! (4.00 / 2)

that is a lot of bread. I eat a lot of bread, but even I don't eat that much!

Normal people scare me.... But not as much as I scare them.

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by: JoanneRigutto @ Thu Dec 15, 2011 at 06:07:08 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

for us American Jews (4.00 / 2)

of Eastern European rye bread was ubiquitous. There were bakeries here ( Philly) that specialized in rye breads

I even worked at a company where the former owner put a loaf of rye bread on everyone's chair on his last day of work.BTW the owner sold the company to a Private Equity company who then turned around and sold it to Bain Capital ( Romney made his $$$ there) who has run the company in the ground.

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by: LeeN @ Thu Dec 15, 2011 at 12:58:50 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

I wouldn't be surprised if bread wasn't the original fast food (4.00 / 2)

bread is incredibly important to the way I eat. The reason I went to making rolls as opposed to loaves is because with the roll, if I'm hungry and don't have time to cook something, I can just grab a roll and munch on it while I'm working. Or if I want a little more, I can grab a roll, some cheese, and a hunk of cold meat. And there I've got a nice hearty meal, I can eat it on the fly, and it'll hold me for hours and hours.

Bread's the best way to take wheat or any other grain, convert it into a form that's more easily digestible, and convenient to eat. And, if you're using something like a bread bowl or trencher, you've got an edible container to boot!

Normal people scare me.... But not as much as I scare them.

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by: JoanneRigutto @ Thu Dec 15, 2011 at 15:32:54 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Finally! (4.00 / 2)

I got some whole barley. Got it from Concentrates Incorporated in Portland. Organic and from a farm in Oregon. I also got some white millet. I'm going to malt the millet and make beer out of it...

So now I have 50# each of white wheat, barley and white millet. Time to get to work!

Normal people scare me.... But not as much as I scare them.

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by: JoanneRigutto @ Thu Dec 15, 2011 at 06:09:23 AM UTC

Concentrates, Inc. is a great place. (4.00 / 2)

I get most of the soil amendments for my garden from them. They stock so many things. And they are nice people.

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by: caseyOR @ Thu Dec 15, 2011 at 19:16:12 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Too true Casey! (4.00 / 2)

I had a great conversation with a couple of the guys over there yesterday about malting grains and growing things. I'd had whole barley on order for a couple weeks at one of my local feed stores and the company it was ordered from never delivered.

I only stopped at Concentrates Inc. because of a conversation I'd had at FH Steinbarts about malting millet and I saw that Concentrates had it in stock. 50#, but I figured I could  sprout some and feed it to the hens, plant some in the spring, and experiment with malting the rest and making beer (very popular in Africa). While I was talking to the guys over at Concentrates, I mentioned that I was having a hard time getting whole barley and one of them mentioned that they had 50# bags of it in stock. I'd called a few weeks ago and they didn't have it so I assumed it was a grain they didn't carry. Apparently they just hadn't had in stock at the time I called.

I'd already paid for the millet and it was loaded on my truck, and the guy grabbed a bag of the barley and opened it for me to inspect. Yay! Whole barley with the husk (important for filtering the wort after mashing). I bought it on the spot.

I don't know if it's 2 row, 4 row or 6 row (judging by the size of the seed I think it's either 4 row or 6 row, with a higher probability that it's 6 row) but I'm going to malt it and make beer anyway. The tag has the farm's name on it - Magill Ranch in Wamic, Oregon - so I could contact them and find out what kind of barley they grow.

The millet is from Round Butte Seed Growers in Culver, Oregon.

Love Concentrates Inc. I plan on doing a LOT of business with them in 2012.

Normal people scare me.... But not as much as I scare them.

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by: JoanneRigutto @ Thu Dec 15, 2011 at 21:11:49 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Way Cool! (4.00 / 2)

Magill Ranch

I'm going to shoot an email over to them today.

Normal people scare me.... But not as much as I scare them.

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by: JoanneRigutto @ Thu Dec 15, 2011 at 21:14:28 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

I'll be malting barley today (4.00 / 2)

I finally found a reliable source for whole organic barley as well as whole millet, and they also carry triticaly, red and white wheat, whole oats (of course everyone carries whole oats), and the best part is that I drive right past them once or twice a week. It's Concentrates Incorporated. They used to be over on SE 8th in the old Dairy Gold feed plant, but now they're on International Way within a block or so of Bob's Red Mill and Dave's Killer Bread.

Normal people scare me.... But not as much as I scare them.

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by: JoanneRigutto @ Thu Dec 15, 2011 at 15:47:57 PM UTC

Very interesting piece (4.00 / 2)

on Warren Buffet's son Howard -
60 Minutes Video

Normal people scare me.... But not as much as I scare them.

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by: JoanneRigutto @ Fri Dec 16, 2011 at 16:13:32 PM UTC

Howie (4.00 / 1)

Thank you. I'm glad to have watched that clip.

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by: count @ Fri Dec 16, 2011 at 18:05:34 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

I think that with Howard Buffet (4.00 / 2)

involved with the Gates Foundation there may be some hope for them after all. Maybe....

Normal people scare me.... But not as much as I scare them.

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by: JoanneRigutto @ Fri Dec 16, 2011 at 18:47:44 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Here's another good database for people interested in sourcing local food (4.00 / 2)

Farmer Maps

I just started my listing with them and will be updating it as new products, CSA shares, and produce comes available. It has options for registered users to receive automatic notices via email for new offerings and users can leave comments on farms' listings, add the farm to their favorites, etc.

Normal people scare me.... But not as much as I scare them.

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by: JoanneRigutto @ Fri Dec 16, 2011 at 18:54:55 PM UTC

holiday fail (4.00 / 1)

From the British Daily Telegraph twitter log:

KathViner: Just wrapped up an edible Christmas gift, then unwrapped it and ate it #fail

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by: count @ Sun Dec 18, 2011 at 13:58:32 PM UTC

LOL nt (4.00 / 2)

Normal people scare me.... But not as much as I scare them.

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by: JoanneRigutto @ Sun Dec 18, 2011 at 15:22:52 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Dosa... (4.00 / 1)

I should try my hand at them next weekend, maybe.  Got two meals out of this one back in Jersey a few weeks ago, from a place down the street from my mother.  Spinach and potato curry.  This was only about half of it.  That's a large-size (16", I think?) pizza takeout box it's on.

We ended up not doing Indian that last Saturday.  The girls (11 and 4) were hesitant to try it.  I told her mother she has to get them into better food soon, and get better food into them!  ;)

Went to a brewpub in New Brunswick with bad food and okay beer, instead.  And watched a football game that shall never be spoken of again.  Argh.  Watching Rutgers blow their shot at the Orange Bowl in spectacular flame-out fashion was not fun.  Back to another December Toilet Bowl again.  Sigh.  Get thee to the Big Ten stat, RU!

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by: JayinPhiladelphia @ Sun Dec 18, 2011 at 19:18:55 PM UTC

Random Amtrak photos... (4.00 / 1)

Train was on schedule and I got to see Glacier National Park by daylight this time.  All of Tuesday morning (11.15.11) and most of Tuesday afternoon and evening in Montana.

Snow pretty much everywhere from Pasco, WA on to just before Minneapolis on the way out.

This city guy also saw his first real-live hunter through a train window in Montana somewhere else that morning, casually strolling through the woods with a giant rifle.  As I thought about what that guy was hoping to eat later that day, I went in the dining car and sat down to a square, lukewarm omelet with 'cheese' that would not and could not melt, and 'grits' that I'm not even sure were made from real corn.  Sigh.  The hummus and pretzels in the cafe car snack bar for lunch were okay, even if the hummus (Sabra) tasted about three months past its expiration date.

Amtrak's water dispensers are a great source of amusement, as you never quite know from where exactly the water will be coming.  Most of the time, it manages to find its way around the cup and the hand you put up to (unsuccessfully) attempt to shield it from squirting you in the face, chest and / or arms.

Got to Fargo hours behind schedule Wednesday morning, and just a bit late for a sunrise shot.

Got one of it coming up over Central Oregon across the Columbia from the Washington State side one morning two weeks later, though...

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by: JayinPhiladelphia @ Sun Dec 18, 2011 at 19:45:28 PM UTC

My mother and my sister are, right this very minute, chugging (4.00 / 2)

their way to Portland aboard Amtrak's Empire Builder. They get in tomorrow morning. As a concession to my Mom's age and physical limitations, as well as my sister's aversion to any hint of discomfort, they always travel a sleeper car. This marks the 6th year they have made the trip by train.  

The Empire Builder is their favorite route to Portland. One year, just to mix it up a little, they took the California Zephyr to Sacramento and then the Coast Starlight to Eugene. They hated the CS. It was hours late, very cold and the train attendants were not nice. They hated it so much that when it was time for them to return to Illinois, I drove them to Sacramento to pick up the CZ because they could not bear the thought of riding on the CS again.

I've heard the the CS from Portland to Seattle is pretty good. WDOT has invested actual money in improving the line, the cars, etc. Portland south, though, is a real crapshoot. It is frequently late, really late, and uncomfortable and generally not good.

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by: caseyOR @ Sun Dec 18, 2011 at 23:07:35 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Yeah, I did the Coast Starlight... (4.00 / 1)

...southbound to Jack London in 2007, when I briefly moved down to Oakland, CA.  They don't call it the Coast Starlate for nothing.  Heh.  We got into Oakland about 4 hours behind schedule that day, I believe, and that seemed to be business as usual.  Though to be fair, I hear its performance is much better these days.  Beautiful route, nonetheless.  I rented a car and drove back up here myself, but that had nothing in particular to do with the train.

My mother was going to do the train next August (same route I always take - Newark to DC on a NE Corridor regional, DC to Chicago on the Capitol Limited and Chicago to Portland on the Empire Builder), but now that looks off as my youngest sister has also decided to come out here next year with her three kids, and they're going to rent a car and drive it instead.  I'm still trying to convince them all to take the train, but it's not working and probably won't in the end.  It's the kids (who by then will be 12 years, 5 years and 17 months).

I was thinking of doing the California Zephyr this time, too, actually.  I'd love to see that route one day.  Also, holding out hope for the old Pioneer Route (Portland to Denver via Eastern Oregon, Boise and Salt Lake City) to come back, so that when Rutgers travels to Boise State for a Big East football game in a few years, I can take the train there in my Scarlet Knights Gear!

:-D

But failing that, San Diego State is already on the schedule.  Yup, Coast Starlight again for that.  Anyway.

Enjoy the family visit!  Youze should have an unusually dry time as our weird December continues, eh?  Sprinkles outside at the moment, but the total accumulation of precipitation this month is still under one-tenth of an inch, as compared to the historical December average of 5.78 inches.

Btw, we'll have to do check off one of the Indian places on our list in January sometime if you're up to it...

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by: JayinPhiladelphia @ Sun Dec 18, 2011 at 23:55:45 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

The Pioneer was a great train. If you just wanted a nice (4.00 / 2)

day trip with the kids (or your friends) you could head to LaGrande in the morning and be home in PDX that same night.

I turn the big 6-0 in January. It is my intention to treat the entire month as one long birthday celebration. Eating Indian food fits right in with my celebration plans. My family and i are heading to the coast tomorrow and i won't be back until the end of the month. I'll shoot you an email right after the first of the year and we can make plans.

About the California Zephyr- my family liked that part of the trip although it is a longer route, time wise, for them. Still, it's beautiful and different from what you see on the Empire Builder.

I can understand your family wanting to drive with the kids. While I agree that a train trip would be okay with kids, provided they booked the family size sleeper car, there is a lot to be said for being able to stop and start and walk around whenever you need to when traveling with little kids.

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by: caseyOR @ Mon Dec 19, 2011 at 00:39:10 AM UTC

[ Parent ]