Text 22856, 144 rader
Skriven 2007-11-15 15:20:24 av Ruth Haffly (1:396/45.28)
  Kommentar till text 22777 av Carol Shenkenberger (1:261/1466.0)
Ärende: Soupy weather
=====================
Hi Carol,

 RH> 20/20 hindsight.  Your shopping trip to the Asian market sounds like
 RH> you scored quite a bit of (now) familiar products.  I suspect you'll be
 RH> spending lots more $$ there than you did before you went to Japan. (G)

 CS> Will definately.  It;s not far from here.  About 4 miles I think,
 CS> maybe 5.  I may have confused you though.  Many of those products were
 CS> familiar before, not all but many.  Thats why Japan wasnt quite the

I understand.  But store inventories can change over the years so you
might be missing some things (spice blends?) now that you used to get
and get now some things you never knew about until you got to Japan.
Clear as mud?

 CS> trial for us that some others felt.  We just continued further down an
 CS> already somewhat worn path.

OTOH, Steve didn't do that much experimenting in Korea when he cooked
for himself.  I think he stuck mostly with easy to do (but not frozen
dinners) batchelor cooking and save the Asian for eating out.


 RH> OK, remember that the meatballs (mine, anyway) take about 20 minutes,
 RH> tops, and the squash will take longer.  We baked one on Saturday but
 RH> instead of cutting it in halves, Steve cut it into about 2-3" rounds.
 RH> Still took a bit over an hour to bake.

 CS> Thats ok, it's heating the oven in the first place with nothing else
 CS> needing it. As it was, I didnt have room for the squash.

I know, usually I slide a couple of things in the oven per use but this
time it was only the squash.  Yesterday it was a couple of cookie sheets
of meat balls.

 CS> pans, not much but they work.  2 rusty cake pans (lined with foil) and
 CS> a glass baking dish (square one, brownies and such).

 RH> As long as you've got some stuff--beats nothing. (G)

 CS> Yes.  Cant wait for the stuff!  Should be here next week then its a
 CS> matter of when can they deliver. I'm hoping for before Thanksgiving as

Hopefully will be.  We got our stuff in Frankfurt on Thanksgiving
day--almost missed dinneer in the DFac as Steve wanted to check out his
computer & we were still getting around on public transportation.
Barely made it before they stopped serving.  In Berlin we could have
gotten Thanksgiving Day delivery but opted to delay it a day & went to
the DFac.  More of a story there but I'll go into it another time.

 CS> we are feeding a group of sailors and a new neighbor who's stuff wont
 CS> be here from Rota in time for that.  Dnt worry, we worked out the
 CS> arrangements if it's not here.  The sailors are bringing 2 card tables

We've done that before.  Then in AZ, in 1994, we shared with both
Steve's and my parents, David, his sister & parents, another couple & 2
of their 3 kids, several folks from their church, us (4), my sister
and her husband & son.....don't think I left anyone out but there were
about 25-30 of us. Joe & Marty hosted because they had a bigger house;
they also did a ham & turkey. I did pies and a bunch of other stuff &
various people brought sides.

 CS> here with a bunch of folks far from home, all just enjoying some home
 CS> cooking.  I have unlimited LD conus calling so we'll let them all call
 CS> home and say hello during the event.

That's fun.  Four years ago, we were in AZ waiting for Robert to be born
(at the time he was still going to be Aidan); he came a couple of days
later.  Deborah was deployed so she wasn't with us.  We (Steve, Rachel,
David and I) went over to my sister's house.  (She had 2 sons by then.)
A cousin was there as well so we called my parents on Steve's cell &
played "pass the phone"; I think about all of us talked to my parents
that day.


 CS> I had a lovely stick blender from Black and Decker.  Wore it out

 RH> We had one years ago but gave it to Rachel because we didn't use it.
 RH> Got another when we came out here & it's been used multiple times; I

 CS> I'd use it if i had it, but once it broke I went back to other methods
 CS> plus my rare need for my little Japanese blender.

I was going to use the food proccessor but Steve suggested blending it
in the pot with the other.  Saved dirtying up a bunch more dishes. (G)


 RH> OK, thanks.  Any subs for sake or mirin?  I do keep rice vinegar on
 RH> hand.

 CS> Yes and no.  I recall you do not like to add alcohol to cooking, and I
 CS> am close to you on that except for a little sake or mirin.  The
 CS> tradtional sub is dry sherry.  If you can find a de-alcoholed sherry
 CS> flavoring, it might work. Aso depending on the flavor of the dish,
 CS> lea&perrins worstershire can work for a different but quite acceptable
 CS> (and occasionally better) result.

 CS> For dishes that show in the recipe a lighter hand is needed, I think
 CS> well of applejuice and a little club soda.  Obviously a flavor
 CS> diffrence, but one that works for the lighter dishes.

OK, I'll take it all under consideration.  I may also use some chicken
stock as well.

 CS>   advised to reduce sodium due to high blood pressure or other
 CS> reasons,   should avoid it, but otherwise it is *extremely* heart

 RH> I suspect it can be tweaked a bit.

 CS> True, it was written before we had needs, but we did know enough to
 CS> add warnings for others to the really high ones.

I have cut it out so much in my cooking I generally post recipes as I've
modified them--low to no salt.

 CS> see as 'optional, to taste' in the origional. I have some Japanese
 CS> fish balls.  I will add them at the last 5 mins and let them warm in

 RH> Fish balls the same as I see fish cake listed in Hawaiian recipes?
 RH> Probably an Asian store for source of them?

 CS> Close enough you can use the fish cake fine.  Kamoboko is the name, we
 CS> got some at the local Asia grocery.  We also got fishballs (they look
 CS> like little meatballs but of fish).

Yes, some of my Hawaiian cook books have recipes calling for fish cakes
or Kamoboko, just never heard the term fish balls so was clarifying.

 CS> They are finicky to make yourself unless you can get that fish-paste
 CS> made from bone-fish in Hawaii.  One of the things best bought vice
 CS> made if you can't get fish already in a paste form <g>.

Got that right!

---
Catch you later,
Ruth
rchaffly@earthlink.net  FIDO 1:396/45.28


... Yesterday was the deadline for complaints.

--- PPoint 3.01
 * Origin: Sew! That's My Point (1:396/45.28)