BS: Comfort food

Subject: RE: BS: Comfort food
From: Joybell
Date: 01 Aug 04 - 06:57 PM

Jenny, take the babies along when you picket the place. As many as you can muster. And little kids borrowed from "Hire a monster" or some such baby-sitting place. Keep them screaming. Make sure they're good and smelly and are holding icecreams and other smeary stuff for painting on the windows. Baby-Poo on the windows would look good too. Kids will have a ball and get some useful training for future protests. Good luck. Keep us posted. Joy

Subject: RE: BS: Comfort food
From: beardedbruce
Date: 01 Aug 04 - 06:47 PM

all the jennies that I know are brilliant inspiring jenny or sensitive sweet jenny...

Subject: RE: BS: Comfort food
From: Bert
Date: 01 Aug 04 - 06:43 PM

Jenny, you can get your revenge on the inaccessible health authorties by sending them the offending spuds by mail.

Subject: RE: BS: Comfort food
From: GUEST,Jenny
Date: 01 Aug 04 - 05:34 PM

Mmmm yes Thanksgiving is my absolute favorite cooking-wise. I wish I was your neighbor! I'm already looking forward to it. Chopping to Alice's Restaurant. And the smells - just heaven.

As far as justice for the potato incident - oh absolutely I should and would have read the woman the riot act and stayed put until I got my money back but it was one of those days. I'm sure you all will recognise the syptoms, where everything that has been bugging you for a while suddenly renders you senseless because, this particular day, you bumped your elbow six different times, walked into the door once, had something in your eye for four hours, dribbled bleach on your favorite shirt, your head hurts, your basement flooded, your toast burned, you broke your favorite mug, your sister got on your last nerve - just a pile of silly things happening at once puts you over the edge. So rather than react in your ordinary way to things such as takeout turmoil - you loss it and run out babbling and pulling your hair with spittle on your chin.

As far as reporting to the various agencies intended for consumer protection, well I would have tried that a few months back, in theory these entities are great, but maaaaaaaan Oh man did ya ever try to actually contact one of them? It is almost invariably the changed number, voicemail, pleasehold, transfer, explain-for-the-100th-time, smugf*ck-of-an-operator hell. And no one calls back ever. I just went through it again recently trying to report the criminal treatment I received while trying to have a baby in a hospital. I couldn't go through it again. In fact, I do believe attempting to get somewhere with one of these agencies was a big part of Woman Breaks Down Over Bad Potatos. yeesh.

And hey Jenny! I thought there was a JennyL already so I didn't put L and also I had joined mudcat properly a couple times with jenny variations(though I rarely post) but I have so many cookie problems and stuff with my crap old pc that I gave up. Maybe I'll join again as Sportin'Jenny. Did you ever notice Jennys always do seem to be of the sportin' type in song? Where's brilliant inspiring jenny or sensitive sweet jenny? There is a cool Jennifer song where she has "yellow jokes come out of her mind" or soemthing like that.

Hope everyone is having a nice Sunday and thanks for the kind advice!
JennyLangan

Subject: RE: BS: Comfort food
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Aug 04 - 12:35 PM

In the Follow-up Department--I cooked a big U.S. Thanksgiving dinner last night for a bunch of friends, to help celebrate the one who is leaving who usually has us over to T'giving at her house. It was a good meal and we all enjoyed ourselves, even if there were bittersweet moments. When they arrived they were surprised that it really was a traditional Thanksgiving dinner (on July 31!)--turkey, dressing, pumpkin pie and all! But it was food to comfort tired and wounded friends. My daughter helped a lot, and I'm sure she slept as soundly last night as I did. All of that cooking (and the related cleaning) is exhausting, but definitely worth it!

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Comfort food
From: Helen
Date: 31 Jul 04 - 07:16 AM

The NSW Department of Fair Trading (are you in NSW?) are the ones to talk to, as well as the Health Inspection section of your local council. Fair Trading is the *best* value gov't department I know of, and to even just threaten a business with going to Fair Trading is often enough to get what you want. I like watching the shonky business people do an about-face when you mention the DoFT. That's fun!

Talking of rotten spuds - and there is no smell quite like it in the vegetable world - what about the rotten spud chucked out by Griselda in the Jabberwocky movie, and coincidentally caught by the Michael Palin character. Then, when he is trying to gain entrance to the fortified city because of the famine the guards find the potato and try to get him to hand it over as a fee for entering. When Palin says he cannot part with it because it was a gift from his girlfriend one of the guards says, "Ooooh! She must really love you!"

When I first saw that movie at the theatre I had only recently had the dubious pleasure of smelling rotten potatoes so that scene was very real for me - and very funny.

Helen

Subject: RE: BS: Comfort food
From: JennyO
Date: 31 Jul 04 - 02:46 AM

Namesake person, I hope you don't let them get away with that. I'd have stood there threatening the Health Department and refusing to budge until I got satisfaction.

I find it extraordinary that any business would risk getting into trouble over something like that. Any place I have ever been has been willing to refund or replace something so obviously unfit, most of them bending over backwards to be helpful and apologetic as well.

Come on, give 'em hell, I say. Us Jennys gotta show 'em what we're made of.

Jenny

Subject: RE: BS: Comfort food
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 31 Jul 04 - 02:30 AM

The reason these people keep getting away with it, is because their victims like yourself, usually are too 'gutless' (to use the Aussie vernacular, and I do NOT wish to be personally offensive to you!) to complain - or just find it too much trouble to spend their personal time on the matter (probably explains the first for most people!).

Consider that you could have received food poisoning and sued them. You (and they) would have had much more hassle. A business owner or employee who does not understand this is a bullying cretin, who deserves all they get, even to be put out of business! An efficient food business would never have allowed such a product to be sold!

And you don't need real 'press' - some 'freelance journos' with modern video cameras can also get the message thru - and the footage can be useful in your defence in the ensuing court battle over the resultant riot... :-) Have you ever seen Michael Moore's documentary pieces? :-)

Robin

Subject: RE: BS: Comfort food
From: Blackcatter
Date: 31 Jul 04 - 01:32 AM

It is generally against the law in the US for a business to refuse to refund your money in such cases as well.

Jenny, get a bunch of your friends to help you picket the place during a Saturday morning rush. Call the local "problem solvers" TV news people. They might have a file on them already.

Subject: RE: BS: Comfort food
From: Peace
Date: 31 Jul 04 - 12:09 AM

Corn on the cob, roasted in its skin, then served with lotsa butter, salt and pepper. Side dish: Three three-minute eggs served in a small bowl. Lotsa toast--whole wheat. I am going home to eat.

Subject: RE: BS: Comfort food
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 30 Jul 04 - 11:44 PM

Well, here in Auseieland,

1) the health dept would be happy to take your foul food off your hands, and put the owner through the mill, as well as the 'waitress'

2) Refusal to refund on 'a product unfit for use' is illegal.

Robin

Subject: RE: BS: Comfort food
From: GUEST,jenny
Date: 30 Jul 04 - 10:08 PM

Well since this is a potato-leaning thread…

Went to get a take-out breakfast with my sister today. When we got home the potatoes, which were notable in an off-color, furry sort of way turned out to be quite rancid. So I brought the grub back, handed it to the owner and very sweetly explained the situation and asked for my money back. She flatly refused. I told her to just LOOK at the deeply offensive spuds. She obliged and then bent down and sniffed them and quite involuntarily recoiled in disgust. She then proceeded to tell me quite coldly there was nothing wrong with them, she'd have them make me another breakfast if I wanted but I wasn't getting my money back and she walked away. This restaurant is attached to my local. It is across the street from my home. I just lost it completely. Started to cry, wobbled about channeling a drunken' sailor and ran out babbling about potatoes and horrible politicians and ACOG sanctioned violence toward women. The neighbors looking at me like I was from Mars.

It must be me. I obviously suffer from potato-related breakfast issues that have nothing at all to do with reality.

Also, food-wise…I have a huge scratch across my face because the baba decided to attack me while we were on the bus with one of those old-style, hard-as-a-rock granola bars. She was actually strapped to the front of me in her baby carrier thingy so there was just no escaping her wrath.

And later while I was trying to chisel out a song that was drilling tunnels through my brain, the wee'un grabbed my yogurt smoothie out of my hand and dumped it all over my keyboard. That girl can move at warp speed sometimes. I don't know what the jaisus she's eating. She must be drinking rocket fuel when I'm not looking. She hasn't ever really slept much so I do have my suspicions...

Just an all around bad food day I'm having. No comfort at all. Not even the ol' spud. Just thought I'd share.

Attacked with granola, foiled by a smoothie…la lee la

Shit.

Subject: RE: BS: Comfort food
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 29 Jul 04 - 11:36 PM

Will consider swap of packets of Tim Tams for Music.... :-)

Subject: RE: BS: Comfort food
From: Joybell
Date: 29 Jul 04 - 10:40 PM

Yes Jenny that's the stall you can never get anywhere near because of the queue. Worth the wait though.
Sent off a few goodie boxes yesterday. Trying to keep myself in control with my own box of peanut butter cups. Joy

Subject: RE: BS: Comfort food
From: JennyO
Date: 29 Jul 04 - 10:25 PM

Speaking of Dutch food, we made poffertjes (little Dutch pancakes) the other day, and had them with maple syrup and cream and a dusting of icing sugar - yum yum yum! They were as good as the ones from the National (for Oz cats who've been to the National and know what I'm talking about).

Subject: RE: BS: Comfort food
From: PoppaGator
Date: 29 Jul 04 - 03:30 PM

Speaking of the Pennsylvania Dutch: SHOO-FLY PIE!!!

I haven't seen or tasted any in years, but as I recall, it's pretty similar to pecan pie without the pecans -- i.e., mostly sugar. Hence the attraction to flies, which explains the name.

Subject: RE: BS: Comfort food
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 29 Jul 04 - 12:39 PM

Here's your Mudcat Foods that aren't really foods link. There was an extra space.

This morning I was getting ready for work and the kids were sleeping late (as usual during summer vacation). I quietly moved around the kitchen fixing myself some French toast, because I didn't feel like a bagel or fried eggs this morning. I had the thought that I should wake my 12-year-old and offer to make him some before I left for work, but decided not to. Darned if he didn't startle me with "Oh, Good! French toast!" when I was in the middle of cooking them. The smell woke him--this is one of his favorite foods, a true comfort food.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Comfort food
From: RangerSteve
Date: 29 Jul 04 - 08:12 AM

Yesterday I drove 75 miles to my favorite Pennsylvania Dutch market (Deitrich's on I-78 about halfway between Harrisburg and the Delaware River) for some Lebanon bologna and home-made scrapple and a six-pack of Moxie - a relative of root beer. I also picked up something called a funny cake. I'm adding the funny cake to my list of favorites. It's a pie shell with a thin layer of chocolate syrup topped with cake batter and then baked. Basically, it's a cake pie.
You can probably get one at any good PA Dutch market.

the Pa Dutch may be stern, humorless people - they consider Lutherans to be party animals - but they sure know comfort food.

Subject: RE: BS: Comfort food
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 28 Jul 04 - 09:08 PM

It would seem that this thread is the antithises of < a href="http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=71865">Mudcat Foods that aren't really foods.

Subject: RE: BS: Comfort food
From: Joybell
Date: 27 Jul 04 - 07:42 PM

Into the air! Blowing in the wind! Over the ocean! open mike will receive the chocolate (and honeycomb) blessing soon. Joy

Subject: RE: BS: Comfort food
From: beardedbruce
Date: 27 Jul 04 - 07:25 PM

Spread the cheer.

Can I call this throwing chocolate out upon the waters?

8-{E

Subject: RE: BS: Comfort food
From: Joybell
Date: 27 Jul 04 - 07:18 PM

The mail-car smelled of chocolate today!!!! beardedbruce, my dear friend!!! A big box of Reece's peanut-butter cups!! All sorts and shapes. They must have had to give the sniffer dogs in customs the day off when it arrived. There wasn't room in our old milk-can mailbox and I met the mail-lady at the gate. I feel like a little kid. Thank you so much Bruce. What a sweet friend. Cheers and more cheers Joy

Subject: RE: BS: Comfort food
From: Georgiansilver
Date: 26 Jul 04 - 12:10 PM

My own home made Lamb Hotpot...with onion rich gravy and containing carrots, swede, parsnips,celery,leeks,courgettes, baby corn, small potatoes,,,,,,and anything else I feel like putting in, veggie wise.
Be Blessed.

Subject: RE: BS: Comfort food
From: s&r
Date: 26 Jul 04 - 12:04 PM

Nothing to do with male members - steamed suet pudding with dried fruit (raisins sultanas etc)

Wonderful

Believe it or not a few people call it Spotted Richard

Stu

Subject: RE: BS: Comfort food
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 26 Jul 04 - 11:39 AM

"Spotted dick and custard" sounds like something that you need ointment for, or an appointment with your doctor.

Subject: RE: BS: Comfort food
From: s&r
Date: 26 Jul 04 - 11:28 AM

and spotted dick and custard..

Subject: RE: BS: Comfort food
From: s&r
Date: 26 Jul 04 - 11:27 AM

Crumble and custard - yes
Treacle pudding and custard - yes yes yes

Subject: RE: BS: Comfort food
From: el ted
Date: 26 Jul 04 - 06:20 AM

100. I thank you.

Subject: RE: BS: Comfort food
From: Blackcatter
Date: 26 Jul 04 - 12:21 AM

Ellen

Now you got me imagining you eating egg salad.


mmmmmmm . . .

Subject: RE: BS: Comfort food
From: Helen
Date: 25 Jul 04 - 11:59 PM

Slow cooked beef in red wine sauce, with lots of onions and big chunks of potatoes, or whole baby potatoes. That's my latest fad.

Cauliflower & bacon soup - sounds ordinary but it isn't. Made with some onions, cauliflower, bacon & stock and then puree it. Pretty simple, but the first time I had it was at a local cafe, after a meeting straight after work so I had had no dinner, and it was teeming with rain, and cold outside.

Sandra, try chopped dates and chopped banana, mixed into cream and left in the frig for a couple of hours. The dates and bananas "soggify" and the dates release their spicy fragrance into the cream.

Turkish green beans on rice - slow cooked in tomato mixture with paprika and a couple of other flavours. I add carrot chunks too. I haven't quite got the trick of making them taste like the ones at my favourite Turkish restaurant, though.

Chopped up sausages, fried briefly then mixed with tomatoes and onions and slowly cooked in a frypan until the sausages soak up the tomato and onion flavours. Even my mostly vegetarian Dad liked that for a change.

Helen

Subject: RE: BS: Comfort food
From: Ellenpoly
Date: 23 Jul 04 - 05:16 AM

I just had a huge bowl of egg salad. It was very comforting.

..xx..e

Subject: RE: BS: Comfort food
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 23 Jul 04 - 03:01 AM

Real chocolate doesn't have emulsifiers - the cocoa is ground for much longer than in 'compounded chocolate' - which isn't real chocolate at all.... it has oils and fats other than cocoa butter, which is why they use emulsifiers. Belgian chocolate is actually better than Swiss.

Subject: RE: BS: Comfort food
From: Joybell
Date: 23 Jul 04 - 03:00 AM

I think white chocolate is ok in it's way but it needs a new name.   How can you have non-chocolate coloured chocolate. It needs to be called albino something.
I'm reading up about Violet Crumbles. They were part of my childhood but I never thought to wonder about their origins. Seems they were named by Abel Hoadley's wife whose favourite flower was the violet. Hoadley's chocolate company was bought up by another Australian confectionary company and then later by Nestles. True-love says he doesn't remember an American equivalent of Violet Crumbles - or of "honeycomb" - which is the centre bit. We made "honeycomb" at home when I was a kid. Off to town next week to post off the treats to open mike. Joy

Subject: RE: BS: Comfort food
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Jul 04 - 11:26 PM

The white stuff just doesn't taste like chocolate. I picked up a really nice imported bar of dark chocolate with dried cranberries a few weeks ago (at a Russian cafe). Semi-sweet tastes most like chocolate, because it doesn't seem to be so full of emulsifiers. That's why it's also more expensive.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Comfort food
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 22 Jul 04 - 07:23 PM

I prefer the dark 85% Lindt - I will eat a little of the white - but I find it too sweet. As far as I know, the white omits the cocoa powder, I do think that it has the coca butter.

Subject: RE: BS: Comfort food
From: PoppaGator
Date: 22 Jul 04 - 04:54 PM

Bruce, I wish I could help. I read a book on chocolate a couple of months ago which addressed this very question, but I can't remember the details.

White chocolate includes some but not all of the ingredients of "regular" chocolate; I'm pretty sure that it contains cocoa butter (among other things), but I couldn't tell you exactly what component is missing.

I like white chocolate well enough in some contexts, but generally prefer the brown stuff -- especially dark/semi-sweet (moreso than milk-) chocolate.

Subject: RE: BS: Comfort food
From: beardedbruce
Date: 22 Jul 04 - 04:30 PM

so, should I start a thread on white chocolate, or can anyone tell me whythere is such a thing?

Subject: RE: BS: Comfort food
From: beardedbruce
Date: 22 Jul 04 - 07:00 AM

BTW, Reese's Pieces are no longer being made... Seems that Hershey bought Reese's, and has it's own peanut butter M&M.

The white chocolate Reese's Peanut butter cups are not worth getting, though. I am not sure what the reason for white chocolate is...

Subject: RE: BS: Comfort food
From: beardedbruce
Date: 22 Jul 04 - 06:16 AM

Joybell-

Sounds good to me- if we all just make one other person's day, the world would be a much nicer place for everyone.

8-{E

Subject: RE: BS: Comfort food
From: Joybell
Date: 21 Jul 04 - 10:15 PM

Open mike, Give me your address. I'd love to return the favour that beardedbruce is doing for me. We can pass this thing around. Cheers Joy

Subject: RE: BS: Comfort food
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 21 Jul 04 - 09:10 PM

Actually Treacle has lots of mineral stuff - it's produced near the end of the processing chain.

Subject: RE: BS: Comfort food
From: beardedbruce
Date: 21 Jul 04 - 04:44 PM

Here on the East Coast ( US) Atlantic ssalmon is all farmed- and dyed, since no-one would buy the gray fish that comes out of the ponds. Only Pacific salmon is pink or red- but it does get down to $1.50 a pound or so, at times. Usually about 5 pounds /fish, so they can be smoked easily. Not sure I would want to deal with a 50 pound salmon!

Subject: RE: BS: Comfort food
From: Bert
Date: 21 Jul 04 - 03:23 PM

Yup there is sometimes a difference in quality, but how it tastes does depend on how you cook it.

And it always tastes better than any other fish that you can buy for the same price.

We saw this whole red salmon in the fish market in Philadelphia a couple of years ago. It was $1.50 a pound. Trouble was it must have weighed over 50 pounds and we had nowhere to store it at the time.

Subject: RE: BS: Comfort food
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Jul 04 - 11:26 AM

Bert, you know what that $1 a pound salmon tastes like? Cardboard. What we get down here at that price is the little bland silvers (a light pink fish) that hardly have any flavor. But on occasion I've found some of the more flavorful larger whole red salmon on a really good sale for between $3 and $4 a pound. Then I take it home and smoke some and freeze some and eat some right away. Amazingly, this summer we got Copper River salmon down here (a variety of King salmon) for just under $6 a pound at Sam's, of all places. If I bought it at Whole Foods it would be closer to $15-$20. It goes fast. It seems to me that Sam's didn't know what they were selling, but I wasn't about to tell them!

I had some friends pass through town on the day I discovered the salmon, so I bought a large piece, raced home and made a loaf of crusty Italian bread, cut some chard from the garden to steam, served my fresh garden tomatoes on the side, and set up the charcoal grill (started with newspaper--no starter fluid hydrocarbons came near this treasure) and prepared it with olive oil and garlic before grilling. After all of this we had a homemade apple cobbler for dessert. From the moment they walked in the door that meal was viscerally satisfying and a pleasure to serve to three such good friends (who converged after traveling from several different places around the U.S., who all specialize in American Indian literature, and who have heard about the Northwest delicacy of grilled salmon). The smell of the fresh bread, the grilled fish, and the baking apples (with the cinnamon and nutmeg that MMario mentioned in the applesauce above) was perfect. We had a nice bottle of Chateau St. Michele (from Washington State) Johannesburg Riesling with it.

I've never experienced treacle, so have nothing to go by. My "eewwwww" had to do with the various renderings (pun intended) of pig skin.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Comfort food
From: GUEST
Date: 21 Jul 04 - 11:04 AM

Stilly River Sage

You like fish and garlic? And turn your nose up at Treacle?

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

doesn't even begin

Subject: RE: BS: Comfort food
From: Bert
Date: 21 Jul 04 - 10:58 AM

Salmon can still be fairly reasonable if you shop around for it.
You can sometimes, about once a year, find whole salmon for around a dollar a pound, so you buy a few and stick them in the freezer. You smoke one or two first though.

Subject: RE: BS: Comfort food
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Jul 04 - 10:52 AM

I like a bit of pickled herring now and then--it is very rich. Comfort food when I was growing up included salmon (usually baked with a little butter and garlic-mmmmm--no fancy sauces--don't gild that lily!) At one time it was less expensive than beef in the Northwest (U.S.). A LONG time ago. . .

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Comfort food
From: Bert
Date: 21 Jul 04 - 10:44 AM

Buckling is a herring, chosen for it's large roe and hot smoked.

Subject: RE: BS: Comfort food
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Jul 04 - 10:09 AM

Eewwwwww. . .

Subject: RE: BS: Comfort food
From: GUEST,Mr Red in a hurry at the library
Date: 21 Jul 04 - 09:36 AM

Buckling? if that is anything like scratchings it is banned under the BSE (Offal) rules. You can get the "so called" scratchings which experts (the people selling it) will assure you they are scratchings but pig skin was only ever a small part of scratchings because traditionally they sold the skin for hide and rendered any unsold bits for lard. The residue left they sold in pubs, fed to horses, sold in pubs and banned (in chronological order). But pigskin (cooked) was always called crackling or real leather (uncooked).

No comfort there anymore.

Now I might have nominated Treacle (that's the black stuff we now call Black Treacle" not the syrup what is gloden and should ideally be referred to as Golden Syrup)

However does an aphrodisiac qualify as comfort food?