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Post by grungy on Nov 16, 2009 8:53:39 GMT -5
Are you trying to tempt me?  ? |
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Post by plantsnobin on Nov 16, 2009 9:13:07 GMT -5
Jo, I was wondering if you are/were a professional chef? All the foods you talk about sound so good. I am not a cook at all. My husband complains that I never fix anything different. Our son in law works with him, and says that he understands that Mike would like me to cook something different, but that Mike orders the same fish sandwich with pickle everyday for lunch. Truth is, he won't try anything new. Bet he would eat your cooking though, I get hungry reading your posts.
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Post by mnjrutherford on Nov 16, 2009 13:50:47 GMT -5
I WISH I cooked professionally! Nope, I'm just fat. I've loved eating since I was a kid. My mother was a horrendous cook so I was preparing meals (scrambled eggs and toast) by the time I was 5 out of self-defense. By the time I was 7 I had dinner on the table when she got home (Clark steaks, from the freezer peas, and instant mashed potatoes). When she got sick of eating that, we went out. My dad, who I lived with on weekends cooked like the Spainiard he is. Awesome and very different from my mother's side of the family. My maternal grandmother also gave me a lot of culinary background. She was a south Georgia native so her fare was fried chicken and mash, liver & onions, meat loaf, etc. She couldn't cook enough vegetable soup and corn bread to make me happy but she sure tried. My maternal aunt was also a good cook. She taught me "Pepper makes the gravy!" My father took me to Spain 7 or 8 times as I was growing up and I still drool with my memories of the things we ate there, particularly pastries. Then we moved to California when I was nine and up to the San Francisco area when I was 16 and there I started really expanding my experiences with "other" ingredients and cooking techniques. Don't EVEN try to talk to me about "authentic" cause in my mind, it's a word that describes nothing beyond the cook. ;D I've had frequent debates about it in the past and I always convince people my thoughts on the matter are most correct.  Food is. It just is. And (please don't be offended cause I have to say something here that is about my relationship with God) as a Christian, I believe it is incumbent on me to trust in God for everything I need. I have determined that there are only 5 things that I actually "need". One of those 5 things is food. SO, if you put all that together, you've got someone who lives and breathes food. Oh, and as for your husband, if I go to a Mexican restaurant, you can be absolutely certain that I'll order "Chilies Relleno" every single time (unless I already know I don't like the manner that particular establishment preps 'em). And yea, Karen, if you came here or if I got to you, I would know no greater joy than cooking for whoever showed up. Notice that I mentioned the "brand new stove" in my last post?  |
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Post by mnjrutherford on Nov 16, 2009 13:57:39 GMT -5
"Tempt" you Val? Oh HECK no, that is a flat out, bald faced, no holds barred bribe! I promise, no one has ever left my house hungry! In fact, when Leah and her mother came to say good-bye Friday, her mother was fed more chocolate goodies than she was normally accustomed to seeing in a given day. Brownie cookies with toasted pecans (I need a couple pecan trees), toasted almond fudge (I would be thrilled with a few almond trees), and a particular French truffle we get from Costco. The guy who gave us the chestnut seedling is waiting patiently for toasted chestnut fudge AND I keep seeing visions of that sherry cake dancing through my mind!
AND, to top it all off, if I don't get my butt in the kitchen, we won't have lasagna tonight... See, if we had a commune I could cook, some of you could garden, hopefully a few of you would clean, and we would all be sleek and happy.
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Post by grungy on Nov 16, 2009 16:11:01 GMT -5
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Post by mnjrutherford on Nov 23, 2009 11:01:04 GMT -5
Mentally sleek? ;o)
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Post by ozarklady on Dec 25, 2009 21:22:01 GMT -5
Good find.
I am trying to remember the Chestnut tree, we had before the blight killed it. I don't know if it was specific to that tree. Everyone who saw it was amazed that it wasn't dead. It grew in a clump, stunted, and there were many trunks on it, of about 4-6" diameters. The leaves were vaguely reminicent of pecan leaves... remember this is through layers of memories!
One by one the multiple trunks gave up the ghost, and the little tree of maybe 10' died.
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Post by mnjrutherford on Dec 26, 2009 8:30:02 GMT -5
Hhmmmm... that doesn't sound very much like a chestnut... I am no expert though. How many years ago was this? Do you recall what the nuts looked like? Castanea, another member here, is MUCH more knowledgeable than I am on this topic. But, I'm wondering if what you had was actually a hazelnut. I'm thinking the growth habit of the hazelnut matches your description more than a chestnut. I believe they are related but I could also be incorrect on that point. Hmmm...
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Post by ozarklady on Dec 26, 2009 11:15:58 GMT -5
I have no real clue. I was a teenager, and the elderly lady next door said that it was a chinquapin chestnut. We had bought the land, and she was telling us how that tough little tree had provided her with chestnuts for years, prior to our moving there, and we told her to help herself. She could have misinformed us. I do recall the nut pods were... burs, pointed edges on them.
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Post by castanea on Dec 27, 2009 22:58:11 GMT -5
That's a pretty good description of a chinkapin, not a true chestnut although a close relative. They are usually shrubby except for the Ozark chinkapin which has tree form.
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Post by mnjrutherford on Dec 29, 2009 7:52:43 GMT -5
It didn't occur to me that it might be a chinquapin until after you mentioned it. How is it not a true chestnut Castanea? I ask the question, but I'm not exactly sure what I mean... maybe I want to know what defines "true"? I was also wondering if chestnuts are related to pecans even remotely.
Don't suppose you know if there are any other trees like it around that you could collect either nuts or scion wood from? I hope to acquire several chinquapins as well as American chestnuts. Though I must confess, I'm begining to think I should give up and acquire a European or Asian variety...
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Post by castanea on Jan 8, 2010 12:45:22 GMT -5
It didn't occur to me that it might be a chinquapin until after you mentioned it. How is it not a true chestnut Castanea? I ask the question, but I'm not exactly sure what I mean... maybe I want to know what defines "true"? I was also wondering if chestnuts are related to pecans even remotely. Don't suppose you know if there are any other trees like it around that you could collect either nuts or scion wood from? I hope to acquire several chinquapins as well as American chestnuts. Though I must confess, I'm begining to think I should give up and acquire a European or Asian variety... Chestnuts and chinkapins are both castanea species, but the word "chestnut" is traditionally used for the tree form with 3 nuts per bur. Chinkapins are usually bush type plants with one nut per bur. Everything is related remotely, but there is no close relationship between chestnuts and pecans. Chestnuts are very closely related to oaks. If you want to eat the nuts, then Chinese chestnuts are the best bet in your area. |
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Food is. It just is. And (please don't be offended cause I have to say something here that is about my relationship with God) as a Christian, I believe it is incumbent on me to trust in God for everything I need. I have determined that there are only 5 things that I actually "need". One of those 5 things is food. SO, if you put all that together, you've got someone who lives and breathes food. Oh, and as for your husband, if I go to a Mexican restaurant, you can be absolutely certain that I'll order "Chilies Relleno" every single time (unless I already know I don't like the manner that particular establishment preps 'em).
