Toast

Update, a Winner, and News for Gardening Pittsburghers

A report from the bad blogger: So where is the roundup? Why haven't you heard from me? Where's my banner?
The shortest, truest answer is sloth, on the part of the undersigned.

In more detail: There was insufficient response on the Terrinereama front to warrant much of a roundup. I think I picked a topic which may have appeared fussier and more complicated than it actually is, putting people off. In any event, I do have a winner of the cookbook. She is Solange, of Just Baking. Her terrine can be found here, and her book will be on the way in short order.

You haven't heard from me because I'm having a lazy patch. I expect to have a new post up within the week, as I'm making something I hope will be fun. I love writing this blog, and have never viewed it as a chore. I don't intend to start treating it like work...so if I don't feel like writing it..I don't. There are an awful lot of old posts available if you feel like browsing the categories...unlike my banner, they have not mysteriously disappeared.

Typepad assures me that they are working on the mysterious disappearing banner issue. I really hope that they can restore it..I don't have it backed up anywhere, because I m a fool. I patched it together with inadequate software, no experience, and some good luck, on my old (late) computer. I was very attached to it, despite its inadequacies.

Good News: If you live in the Pittsburgh area, and have a garden that's not all planted up yet, the Urban Farm in Wilkinsburg still has a good selection of naturally grown seedlings available. This is a great boon, because it's getting really hard to find what you want at this late date. They have heirloom varieties and seem very interesting indeed- I hope to go visit them soon. You can find out more about them and proprietor Mindy Schwartz through their website.

See you soon.

Every once in a while, I suffer a setback in my ongoing battle with myself to keep from posting pictures of my cats in this inappropriate forum. It's a slippery slope, as I am totally non-objective on the issue of how delightful and fascinating they are. Once I get going, there's a major danger of overkill. This would be Archie, who is unimpressed with the excuses cited above.

Terrinerama: Reminder and a Recipe

So I'm giving this virtual party, and I hope some of you will come. There's a door prize- a copy of a nice new book about Terrines, which will be awarded, in random,picked-out-of-the-proverbial-hat fashion (for who am I to judge?), to someone who submits his or her terrine recipe and photo by the deadline: June first. You can do this by sending me a permalink to your post, or if you do not have a blog, you can email me your photo and recipe. These should go to lindystoast at gmail dot com.

Shortly thereafter, I will do a roundup of the submissions, and post it, with links. Terrines submitted after the deadline will be included in the roundup, which I will continue to update. It's just that if you are late, you will miss the drawing. I will announce and email the winner, who can send me the address for mailing. It is a very cool book. It was the inspiration for the following recipe, which I think makes a good, adaptable template for a tasty vegetarian, starter kind of terrine.

There seems to be some thought that this is a topic for pros, and that terrines and pates are inherently fussy and difficult. Not so. A meatloaf is a pate or terrine, and so is chopped liver. I was going to save my own terrine, and its easy recipe for the roundup, but I'm going to post it now, so you can see just how untricky this can be. If you want to make something elaborate, please do, of course, but this is not meant to be esoteric! I'm hoping to collect a real mix of ideas for making in my own new little porcelain terrine.

I think this one makes a good first course, because it is tasty, but not too filling, and can be made ahead, early the same day, or even the day before, and kept in the fridge. It could even make a very acceptable healthy/diet sort of thing, if you make it with milk, rather than cream. That is how the one in the photo was made, and it did not taste like imitation food, as lowfat recipes so often do. It is very general recipe, adaptable to your container size, and the vegetables you may have around. Go for nice color and flavor combinations, of course.

Here is how you make it:

Line a terrine or loaf pan with plastic wrap, allowing it to hand over the long sides. Butter the short sides. Preheat oven to 350F. Steam or simmer your veg until firm tender. I used asparagus, scallions, zucchini, peas and carrots. Cut the larger vegetables into matchsticks, not too small. Beat together 4 eggs and 1 1/4 cups of milk or cream (or proportional amounts to fit your container), salt, pepper and some fresh tarragon leaves if you have them, with a grating of fresh nutmeg.

Pour a bit in the bottom of the lined container to make a thin base layer. Add a layer of veg, then some more egg mixture, etc., until you have come nearly to the top. It will all get jumbled, don't worry, just have the matchsticks of each separate veg face the same way. Wrap the cling film over the top. If your vessel of choice has a lid, put it on. Set in a roasting pan, or the like, in your oven, and pour boiling water into the larger pan, until it is halfway up the sides of the smaller. Mine took 40 minutes in my little white terrine. The tip of a knife inserted in the middle should come clean when it's done.

Cool, and carefully unfold the plastic wrap covering the top. Use the plastic wrap to remove the terrine from the baking pan. As you can see, it slices very nicely with a sharp knife.

Your turn.

Reminder: Last Call on Home-made Take-out Event

Just a little noodge about participating in this event: It's all about what you are taking for lunch, or carrying with you on the plane, or putting in your backpack for a picnic on the trail. Read about it here, and then tell all. Send me an email linking to your post about your home-made take-out, and the clever, pretty, or comfortably mundane container you will carry it, in by June first or so, and I will have a roundup here shortly thereafter. I'm planning to see a marked improvement in my own brown bag lunches as a result. Email your link to: lindystoast at gmail dot com. I'm looking forward to it.

Home-made Take-out Event

Addendum upfront : Deadline revised: you have until June 1st to make lunch!

The noodles you see here were the subject of musings and a recipe* in the NYTimes Magazine recently, and they kind of called to me. I have made sesame noodles before, and there are plenty of recipes out there, though this is a particularly satisfying version. It was the caption that got me thinking about the packed lunches I take to work. Sometimes I go empty handed, and rely on local takeout for breakfast and/or lunch, but mostly I try to bring both with me. It's really expensive to eat lunch out a lot, leftovers can be put to good use in lunches, and hey, I like to cook.

To me, these noodles constitute pretty much the ideal take along lunch, better than random take-out, and as much of a feeling of treat being had. They would work even without a work fridge, because they have no ingredients to spoil during a morning, and are best served lukewarm. Also they are very, very nice, moderately healthy, and suitable for sharing with vegetarians.

I took my noodles for lunch with a pair of chopsticks (because I just like to eat noodles with chopsticks...I even sometimes eat Italian-style pasta with chopsticks, though not, admittedly, in public.) As I was enjoying them, and thinking they were pretty, I thought about some of the beautifully arranged bento boxes I've envied, and of those nifty stacked aluminum containers (I forget their name) delivered to some lucky people in India for their lunches, and just take-along brown bag lunches in general. Personally, I am fond of this Tupperware container, which in addition to being the nearly transparent green of spring leaves, collapses into itself when empty, for easy transport home. With these lunch thoughts in my head, it was a short step to the following idea for making some gratuitious work for myself.

So this is what I'd like to do, and I hope you will participate, either by posting in your blog, if you have one, or emailing me with your written recipe and a link to your photo, by May 15. Make a home-made take-out meal of the sort you like, or would like to take with you to work, or school, or to the park to eat while you watch the kids, or write your novel, or both. Maybe it is beautifully arranged in a divided enamel container, or it is a terrific recreation of Vietnamese street food, or it reminds you of the school lunch you took to elementary school. Maybe you take it in your Spiderman lunchbox. Perhaps you can make a giant pot of it for a dollar, and eat it for 2 weeks without getting bored? Whatever you like.

If you can, take a picture of it, and also, importantly, of the container or containers you will carry it in. Email (lindystoast at gmail dot com) me your link anytime on or before May 15, and I will have a round-up shortly thereafter. I think there's a lot of scope for individual cleverness here, and I'm looking forward to seeing some goodies, and getting some ideas for future lunches.

Let's, uh, do lunch.

*n.b. Recipe available in comments section, scroll down to check it out.
The cloth is for tying up your lunch-or anything else- you just put the thing in the middle, and make two ties across the top from the corners. They become a handle. It was a present from the redfox, quite a few years ago, when she lived in the Berkeley. She took me to Japantown in SF, when I visited for Christmas- and that is where it comes from. I am partial to the bunny motif.

2 and 7, Part II: 1982-2007

Continuing with the meme that makes me feel a thousand years old, where we talk about what was going on, every 5 years. You may want to start here, at the beginning, and then go on below:

1982-I am the only person I know who actually liked law school. Probably, it had something to do with having worked at a low-paying job for 7 years after college. But I had liked being a picture framer, too,except for the starvation wages. I think maybe I'm just a big geeky weirdo. The jukebox in Peter's Pub by the law school played, "I Fought the Law and the Law Won." Often.

The "O" a/k/a the Original Hot Dog, was just across the street from the lawschool. Their incredible fries, and big, greasy cheap chicken parm sandwiches sustained many of us. I carried Tums at all times. Sometimes the redfox came to law school with me, and we hung out in the student lounge. To this day, I see classmates who ask after my"little girl". They are taken aback to hear that she is a grownup and in grad school herself. Married. Makes them feel old.

I got a job clerking for an appellate judge when I graduated, and I liked that too. Bad times ahead, though.
Six months later, my elderly judge up and died. Mouths to feed and all that, so I took the first job that came along, working for a big firm, doing commercial litigation. Hated the place, and began looking for something else at once; a couple of years later, I finally got a job with the federal Department of Labor-a much better fit. Then, Bill got very, very sick in 1985. I wound up working at home, ghost writing opinions for overburdened Federal Administrative Law Judges, so I could look after him.

1987-Bill died, right before Christmas. Knew it was coming; that didn't help. A week or so later, and I was still pretty exhausted- spent really. I got a call for a job interview, from a civil service test I forgot I had taken a year before. I wasn't going to go, but my mother and the 12 year old redfox talked me into it. They said, "This would be a great job for you." They were smart, and I was lucky and I've been a workers' compensation judge ever since. If a person has to work, this is as good as it gets, barring, you know, great playwright or something.

My friend E. more or less dragged me to the opera, to see Verdi's Don Carlo. By that time, Opera was just about the only kind of music I didn't enjoy. (I'm pretty much an ignoramus about jazz, but I often like it, without really getting it.) The semi-involuntarily opera just blew me away, and several gazillion dollars worth of cds later, it still does. Best ever music to cook to, except maybe the stax/Volt soul of the sixties. I think so anyhow.

1992-or thereabouts-I get foggier on exact dates as I get older-fewer landmark items; I tell myself that's why. The redfox went off to Brown. Providence was a nice place to visit her, and I slowly adjusted to living alone for the first time in my whole life. Then, two friends, temporarily apartment-less, came to stay in her attic room in our house (a biggish nice old house we bought before Bill got sick)- while they looked for a new apartment. They stayed five years.

I met D and E ( a/k/a "the boys") through the redfox, when D. was a student teacher in French at her high school. They were great roommates, and good company. When the redfox was at home, she didn't mind taking another, smaller bedroom. She did mind, however, that E was sitting in her seat at the dining room table. He was very attached to "his" place, too. They squabbled over it like siblings, although they did not pinch each other and stuff being, you know, adults. E once ate all the cookies the redfox bought, before she got any. She will probably not mind if I mention that she adores them both.

I got a computer.

1997ish- The redfox was living and working in Berkeley, and the boys bought a house. I sold my house,and moved to my present tree-house of an apartment . Living alone does have a few advantages. It has turned me into a spoiled brat, able to spend enormous amounts of time doing just what I'd like.

Packing my books for the move was an eye-opener. My Uncle Ted had died, and left me a little money, with which I bought The Uncle Ted Memorial Bookcases. They are the first, solid, real-furniture bookcases of my life, and they are wonderful. But they were already overflowing ten years ago. I do realize I have a book problem, and I haven't solved it, to date. I took an amazing trip to Italy which I could not afford, and went to a gazillion operas there. I ate wonderful food, and lost my heart to fried squash blossoms. It was so worth it.

2002-My father died, at 87. He had a long, draining last illness, during which we realized just how much he had been covering up for my mother's early Alzheimer's problems. I was lucky that my brother and his wife were also here in town, and I didn't have to figure out how to handle everything alone. They are so reliable and responsible, and a good thing too, because the personality changes in Mum have make her sometimes hostile, suspicious, resentful. We are also lucky that she has the funds to afford a really nice, sunny, spacious assisted living apartment, with all her own furniture and everything, right in my neighborhood, with an amazing staff of smart caring folks, who help us take care of her. We all visit often, and take her out when she's up for it. I wish she felt less angry about everything. The redfox will be getting married soon, at the Warhol museum with veggie food and good friends. She will marry S., who is, well, what can I say, girl has good taste.

It's 2007, and too early to call. The deal doubtless includes some players to be named later. The wedding was great fun, and the offspring and company live in Cleveland now- not so far.

I have just returned from the emergency room, having been treated for some nasty burns I gave myself, spilling hot hot coffee on my feet. Peeled off the socks, but didn't get the cool water on fast enough to prevent some large wobbly blisters. Unattractive, and oww! You will doubtless be relieved to hear that I did not take a photo.

image: from "What's Opera, Doc?" a not to be missed Bugs Bunny cartoon. Chuck Jones. The other one is a photo of a Clash album, as you probably deduced, from the Amazon site.

2 and 7, Part I: 1952-1982

Two of my favorite lovely and clever foodbloggers, Ximena of Lobstersquad and Melissa of The Travelers' Lunchbox, tagged me for this meme, which seems to have come from, maybe France? (Or maybe, like the Coneheads of yore, not so much.) Anyhow, the deal is-starting with the first year of your existence which ends with a "7" or "2", the tagee is to report on what s/he was up to, at 5 year intervals. I am going for brevity, as I suspect my advanced age has left me with more 5 year intervals than the average blogger.I am also using this excuse to divide the post into two, more manageable segments, maybe with some relief in between.

1952- Two years old, and an appalling chatterbox. We visited England, my parents borrowing money because my mother was homesick. We sailed there on the original Queen Elizabeth . I did not get seasick. I am told that I sat in a high chair in the family house in Chingford, held up my spoon, and asked, "What can I have that's delicious?"

My English family still had 2 chickens in their suburban garden, which they had acquired during the War. Every morning, I was allowed to go get my own brown breakfast egg. One morning I came in sobbing that there was something wrong- the chickens were sick! Their eggs were cold, they must be dying. My Aunt Louise had seen that there were no eggs. Afraid that I would be disappointed- she had planted 2 from the fridge!

My granddad sang musical hall ditties, including some I later recognized on "Upstairs, Downstairs."

1957- First grade. I discovered that my charming, funny father was perhaps not infallible. He was driving me somewhere in the car, and the radio came on. It was Elvis Presley's "Heartbreak Hotel." He thought it was funny. He was wrong , it was great! I saved my pennies, and got someone to walk me across the busy streets to the local National Record Mart, where I purchased a 45 rpm of "Chantilly Lace", by the Big Bopper. Rock and Roll.

My school was in the original large test group for Dr. Salk's polio vaccine.The photo you see above appeared in the NYTimes on the anniversary. I am not 100% certain, but I think that is actually me in the photo, making the scrunchy face.

I ate pizza for the first time, thanks to my avant garde Aunt Gerty. We took family car rides to the "Big Isaly's", an art deco ice cream factory/emporium for "Skyscraper cones", and "Klodikes"-original Isaly's inventions.

1962-Woo. High School. As ever, younger and more immature than my classmates, I was bewildered by the caste system, pointlessly mean kids, even finding my way to class. I aimed for invisibility, and almost attained it. By the next year I had met some wonderful friends, smart and funny, and started having a good time- when school did not impede us too much. High School was still gruesome. American Friends' Service Committee. Beatles, Rolling Stones, Dylan, blues, Otis Redding, Motown, Buffalo Springfield. In the cafeteria, they served "Turkey Treat".

In a year or two, My friend, Little A. and I will go to see the Rolling Stones at the Civic Arena. Our parents will let us go, because they have never heard of a "rock concert." We will be so cool. I will wear a mini-skirt with a wide hip belt, and he will wear the first pair of wire-rimmed glasses seen in Pittsburgh since the turn of the century. My dad will pick us up.

1967- University of Wisconsin, Madison. Painting and Design.The War in Vietnam. Dow demonstration, Kent state, Cambodia, Teaching Assistants Association. Strike. Tear gas, national guard. Everything's going to change, right? Well, no, as it turns out later.

The Green Lantern eating coop had apparently been around since the 30's. You paid a set contribution, and had a work assignment. There was a paid cook. I set tables. You rapped on your glass with a spoon when you wanted to make an announcement; then you might stand on your chair to speak. The food was heavy, with a Southern bent. The politics were lefty. You were never hungry when you finished the meal.

In later college years, I lived in a rented house, with friends, and learned to cook-for large crowds. The Band, more blues, John Wesley Harding, the White Album. A soundtrack for your life, like a movie?

1972- See above. Also, my roommates and I made a big Thanksgiving dinner for everyone we knew who couldn't go home for Thanksgiving. There were 22 people there, and someone brought a friend, a guy who was traveling with a band, and staying at their house in Madison. After dinner, there were about a million dirty dishes, and this guy went in the kitchen, and washed them all! "Who is he?" I was asking everyone.

Reader, I married him. He later admitted that he used the dishwashing technique on a regular basis, to meet girls. Still, he did all the dishes, all the time, more or less for the rest of his too short life. No cook could ask for more.

1977-The tiny redfox was 2 years old, and the chatterbox tradition was maintained. I was working as a picture framer. Bill was studying classical guitar, giving lessons, and working as an administrator at CMU. We were pretty poor, and thinking about that a bit. Still, we managed to buy a tiny house, and we redid the kitchen ourselves.

Neither of us had done anything like that before. Generally, one of us would be reading to the other from a "how-to" book, the other trying to do it. The kitchen was a success- a spiffy galley , with a tongue-in-groove wooden ceiling, like a little boat, and oak floors we discovered under layers of cool, but irrevocably deteriorated lino. I was proudest of the patterned tile backsplash I did. We spent $1000 on the whole thing, buying unfinished, unassembled birch cabinets from Penneys.

I was thinking I need to get some training for a job paying enough to eat better.

1982-I graduated from law school- to be continued.

BTW: I'm tagging the following people, with apologies and deference. You may, of course, disregard the whole thing without fear of violent reprisals:

anapestic
little bouffe
June of Bread, Water, Salt, Oil...
Rebecca of EAT
Julie of Kitchenography

If I haven't named you, but you'd like to participate, consider yourself tagged.

How to Make Apple Pectin Jelly

Here is a perfectly sensible way to spend your time, which may, nonetheless, expose you to no end of mockery. When casual acquaintances, fellow-bus riders, and the like ask you what you did this weekend, and you reply that, among other things, you made apple pectin jelly, eyebrows may go up. If you further explain that this is something you will use, instead of commercial pectin, when you are making other preserves from lower pectin fruit, there may be snickering.

I do a fair amount of babbling and blurting and tend to an excess of enthusiasm. (Which is to say, as you may well have already noticed, that I am a big dork.) It therefore took me a while to realize that it may just be wise to downplay-or totally hide- some cooking details, in general conversation.

People who don't enjoy this sort of cooking, even if they are interested in food in a general sort of way, sometimes can't believe that anyone would want to spend time doing this. In fact, they often seem to think that you are being intentionally weird, and possibly also snooty and affected. You can get this sort of response sometimes, just for making a cake from scratch, instead of from a mix-even though it is often no more trouble.

It's an outlook I don't really understand, but definitely a fact of life. Most folks don't object to being given a bit of some tasty end product, as long as they don't know how it came into being. Since, for some reason I am queasy about disapproval, even from total strangers, I've learned to keep quiet on the topic. Luckily, I can tell you all about it.

I think the deal is, it's supposed to be pretentious, or something. It seems to be acceptable to enjoy elaborate homemade food made by an elderly relative-especially if it is a family or ethnic specialty, but deviant to wish to fix some yourself, especially if it is not from your own, established tradition. I'm just warning you, in case you hadn't already noticed. For some reason, making preserves seems to particularly annoy certain people, none of whom I actually know well enough to ask about it.

Bur anyhow, apple pectin jelly is very easy to make, not at all elaborate, and has many other uses. It makes a spiffy glaze for fruit tarts-especially apple ones. Add a branch of rosemary, tarragon or thyme, and you will have an herb jelly-nice with roasted meats, and chicken. Some cinnamon, nutmeg, or vanilla, or plain-good on an english muffin with breakfast..or a cup of strong tea. All you need is a bunch of unripe apples (windfall apples are perfect, though a bit of trouble, as you must cut out the wormy and brown bits), sugar and a lemon. To make 4-5 eight ounce jars, it takes 3 to 4 pounds of apples, 3 cups of sugar and one lemon.

You will also need a chinois and/or a jelly bag. Jelly bags and their stands are very cheap, and the stand kind of hooks over your big pot, holding fruit pulp, while the juices drain out for jelly. You can mail order them from a canning supply place-though a well equiped hardware store may have them- that's where I got mine. A chinois is expensive, but multipurpose. Up to you.

This is what you do:

In cold water, wash about 4 pounds of the least ripe apples you can find. Remove stems, but do not peel or core them. Cut them in quarters, and put them in a big heavy pan. Cover with water, bring to a boil, and cook for about 45 minutes, until very soft. Pour, water and all, into jelly bag over a large bowl. Press on the top a bit, to release some juice, but don't mash it vigorously. Let it drain through until you're sure you have pretty much all of the juices. It should measure a little over a quart.

Line a colander with cheesecloth, and pour the juices through again. Combine them with the rest of the ingredients in a non-reactive pot. Bring to a boil, and skim off the foam as it collects on top. Boil for about 20 minutes, until it reaches 212F on a candy thermometer, or jells when dropped in a little blob onto a cool saucer. Pour into sterilized 1 cup canning jars, and seal with 2 piece lids. Cool, and test for boingers, refrigerating any jar that doesn't seal properly, to use first.

Each of these jars will be the right amount to make preserves from about 3 pounds of a low pectin fruit- for example, pears, or canteloupe. Or, of course, you could just enjoy your lovely, clean tasting apple jelly. If you reheat a bit, and pour it thinly over the fruit on a tart, or on a fruit garnish on top of a cake the top of a cake, it will go shiny when it cools, and look very pro-pastryish.

I'm looking forward to using my 4 jars for some other preserves.

This is my entry, BTW, in this month's Sugar High Friday, on preserving, at Delicious Days. If you click on the jar photo, you can see my little overtly Marthaesque label. My imaginary jam company is called "Wildlife Preserves." In my mind.

Something Out of Nothing: Roundup

Many thanks to all who sent me their favorite recipes for low funds, empty cupboards, and hard times. When I set out to gather these goodies last month, I was a bit nervous about doing this wrap up, as I do not, in any way resemble a computer wizard. Please let me know if I have mistakenly left out or mis-linked your entry, and I will fix my mistakes. I hope didn't make too many.

I also hope that the starving students, hardup artistes, and all of us who are, from time to time, struggling a bit to make ends meet (yet somehow managing to wander the internet) will find sustainance and pleasure here. I, for one, intend to make use of these contributions. My earliest browsings lead me to believe that it would be a good idea to keep plenty of beans, tuna, rice, olive oil and pasta on hand. You certainly can make a lot of different things from these fine, not too costly pantry staples! There are a lot of other worthy ingredients and agile brains at work here too.

Note: Initially, I planned to divide the posts into many categories, to make the list handier. I found, however that some recipes fit in many categories, and others in none, really. So I have simplified the categories into 3 groups: 1. Vegetarian 2. Meat, Fish, Game or Poultry 3. Sweets. Be advised that the vegetarian category contains items which are not technically vegetarian (they call for meat stock, or some such) but could be adapted without much trouble, by vegetarians. I thought of having a pasta, noodles, rice category, but everything in it belonged somewhere else too. Have a good time browsing.

VEGETARIAN (OR ALMOST VEGETARIAN) FEASTS

Stacey of justbraise sent three recipes, one of which was this colorful and inexpensive pomelo salad.

Ulrike of Kuchenlatein made some excellent red lentil sticks.

Patl of Up A Creek Without A Patl made a whole wheat pasta with homedried tomatoes that looks beautiful in its pretty plate.

Baking Soda of Bake My Day made a winter carrot soup which I am planning on fixing for myself shortly.

anapestic made a complete dinner, of which these "Mesopotamian" Black Beans with Grits are the main course. Stay tuned for dessert.

Farmgirl Susan has the most luscious Garlic Lover's Bean Soup on Farmgirl Fare

zp of i hate the new yorker submitted two entries. This one for cream scones, without the cream, would be good for breakfast, or on the side with some of the other offerings.*photo below

From long ago, out of my own hippie past and the less distant past of my blog, I offer Digger's Cabbage soup (vegetarians can skip the pork chop), to feed a multitude for almost nothing, and another favorite:

Muhjadarrah, which I adore.

Recommended by a reader, rather than the redfox herself, my daughter's Lentil Snacks from the hungry tiger.

A classic Pasta with Shallots and Oil comes from lee, of Welcome to My Pantry, a woman after my own heart, who is big on preserving.

A number of submissions, not in the form of blog postings, offered some fine ideas in this general category. These included, and I quote:

From reader-friend Lynn D.:
Lentil Stew with Spinach and Potatoes
"I use water instead of stock, have successfully used whatever potatoes I have on hand (including yams), frozen spinach would do in a pinch or chard could be substituted (not kale, I think). I think the feta is essential, but you need very little; yogurt might do as well. I realize I'm not a blogger, but I can't help jumping in."

Lynn also sent a link to an excellent recipe for Pasta with Chickpea Sauce. She likes to top this with breadcrumbs toasted in olive oil.

From June, who has just now started her own blog (check it out), Risotto:
"I assume a store cupboard, with half used packets of things that have lost their labels. And may be past their sell-by dates. In which case risotto - if you have homemade chicken stock dilute it by half with water because otherwise it is too strong - and add anything you like. An onion certainly, some spring vegetables (Risotto Primavera), mushrooms (Ai Funghi), or some bacon ( I give up), or jerusalem artichokes ( oh yes - topinambours!), and all the way up the scale to scallops and lobster. But be sparing. Risotto is a minimal dish. Too much and it's a salad.

If you don't have homemade chicken stock use water, never a stock cube. Try to have it bubbling on another ring so you add the hot stock to the fried rice and onions, a ladleful at a time. Let the rice absorb the stock. Add another ladleful. Towards the end of the cooking time - about half an hour - it seems to take an age to get to the right al dente/creamy/soupy concentration. There is no right way, just the way you like it. Me, I like mine creamy."

or this solitary feast:
"... totally selfish, luxurious, toothsome, lipsmacking solitary dish fit for Lucullus, lash out on a bottle of Lea & Perrins ( keep the rest for Bloody Marys), grate enough cheese, mix in enough L&P, toast a slice of decent bread on one side only, turn it over, pile on the cheese mixture, and grill until bubbling. Eat all by yourself and swear you will never reveal the secret."

Cate, of Sweetnicks made both a macaroni salad and bean tostadas in this category. She rounded out the whole budget dinner with a Gorilla Bread. Catch a glimpse of that one in in the Sweets section below.

Denise of What I'm Cooking Now, submitted a Portabella Mushroom Stuffed with Warm Lentil Salad, a party dish.

Ramya, of Cooking within My Grasp" tells us that eveyone, rich or poor, will benefit from eating green gram sprouts, sprinkled with lemon, and tells us how to make them.

Kimberly of Music and Cats made one of my all time favorites, a beautiful Split Pea Soup.

MEAT, FISH, AND POULTRY DISHES

Stacey of Just Braise offered her Sole in Swiss Chard, and two other contributions noted here.

School Bloggie was inspired by the Jamie Oliver's way with ingredients, when she concocted this Chicken Wings with Roasted Veg, which is not only flavorful, but easy.

Strawberry of Scream for Sourcream Timbits spent a great deal of time making a perfectly gorgeous ciabatta, and then making it into a tuna sandwich to die for.

Tania, the cook behind the delightful Candied Quince, made an Herbed Bowtie Pasta With Tuna.

Lisa of La Mia Cucina, made the recipe that everyone asks her for, Linguini with clam sauce.

Pamela of Posie's Place used her market leftovers to create Thai Style chicken, Prawn, and Glass Noodle Soup. Mmm.

Pheasant does not usually appear among the poverty-stricken, but Emma, of the Laughing Gastronome has used leftover pheasant in her Pheasant Galette. And it could be made with leftover chicken, or any other roasted bird, if that's what you have on hand. I, however, am pleased to have a reasonable excuse to buy a pheasant, with my leftovers plan in place.

Another contribution from Stacey at Just Braise-some highly succulent-looking Pomegranate Molasses Shortribs with Broccoli Rabe.

From Third Shift in Las Vegas an arrangement of leftovers is plated beautifully, and tasty, too.

Little Bouffe, who is a bit of an expert at making something out of very little, made a delcious-looking and sounding chicken do-piaza (or chicken with double onions).

Sam of Becks and Posh made Crostini with a Chicken Liver Spread, an excellent starter, and she notes that chicken livers are only $2.00 per pound!

Riana of Garlic Breath made a celery mazoh ball soup with her leftovers. She even made her own mazoh meal.

Nina of Sweet Napa made a Chicken Adobo, which looks and sounds rich and flavorful.

SWEETS

This event coincided nicely with the Chocolate Lady's own annual using-everything-up-to-get-ready-for-Passover event. She literally emptied her cupboards and made these enviable"Bottom of the Bag Poppyseed Muffins"

Cate, of Sweetnicks, even made a Gorilla Bread to go with her complete budget dinner.

To finish off his complete dinner, anapestic made a Bread Pudding with Blood Orange Yogurt Sauce, which he calls, in true anapestic fashion, a "Red-Headed Stepchild of Something for Nothing."

I am very fond of Apple Crumble and this one, from Spicehut looks like a fine example.

Whew! I hope I got it all. Please let me know if I didn't. Enjoy.

Arriving just a wee bit late:

Lovely Steamed Chicken Buns from tokyoastrogirl at Tuna Toast look to me like they were worth waiting for.

and wait...I somehow failed to post the second of zp's contributions, which belongs with the fish dishes, "We Could Call Her 'Tuna'" thankfully not named after her little sister.* see photo below

Sam's first email was lost. It would have been a great pity to miss his entry from sweet pleasure: plaisir sucre. His beautiful poached pears were made from from what he had in the kitchen already. And he even used the poaching liquid to make another treat-go see.

Better late than...you know. Spanish Roasted Potatoes are courtesy of the Culinary Muse, who also explains why she loves her cast iron skillet.

Somehow I missed out on this entry from Kai, of Bucaio, my Filipina blogging-by-mail partner. Her delectable-looking Arroz con Tres Leches is a Panamanian Sweet.

I couldn't resist adding one more. Madeleine Kamman's great grandmother's Scrambled Eggs with Dandelions are so elegant and delicious, and they are practically free. Marie Charlotte was a skilled practioner of cuisine de misere, or says Ms. Kamman, the art of making "something from nothing"!

*And here we have a photo from zp, 5 months later. It has both of zp's contributions, in one picture. Got to love an attention span this long. Follow the *s back up for the recipes.

Something Out of Nothing: A One Time Event

The roundup is up! Come have a look. Click Here! After due consideration, including consideration of my own laziness, I am hosting, for those who may be interested, a one time blogging event. I am particularly interested, myself, in the sort of recipe which is a happy lifesaver for an impecunious, struggling student, or anyone, such as yours truly, who is at the end of a pay period, and not feeling very flush. I think this event should be entertaining, and useful too. I hope so. This is what I propose:

I'll be looking for an email, by April 2nd, of the permalink to a post about your favorite, splendid and delicious bargain recipe. This should be something made with inexpensive, obtainable ingredients, and should not require much in the way of special equipment to prepare. I do not mean, however, that it should not be unusual. To the contrary, I'm hoping to see some exciting food I never would have thought of for myself. Nor should you feel that you cannot include a small amount of a more luxurious ingredient-as long as it can be obtained in small enough quantities to be affordable. (For example, you can get saffron in quite small quantities, and dole it out to good effect. There is, however, no quantity of beluga caviar which is affordable. Likewise, a recipe requiring a quarter of a cup of saffron, if such a thing exists, will cost the earth.)

The aim is to to assemble a collection which will be a boon to the starving student/artist...or anyone who likes to eat lovely, lovely food, and cannot, or cannot always, pay top dollar. Much of the very best food has been invented by cooks dealing with adversity and lean times. I'd like to see what we can assemble.

If you have already posted about your favorite, tried and true, delectable but thrifty dish, which is so wonderful and so cheap that you cannot top it, then you can send along the permalink to your previous post. Otherwise, please post by the April 2nd date, and email the permalink to lindy_toast at hotmail dot com. I will do a round up in the following week, and hope it will be of use to all of us. Show us how clever you are, and make something out of nothing, or nothing very much.

The empty kettle picture is a detail from a Chardin still life.

The Recipe Thing

Tagged here at Toast by one Toastpoint for this meme, I am going to be good and do it promptly, for a change. It would be churlish to do otherwise, especially after asking others to participate in Something for Nothing (noodge, noodge); it is the least I can do. In any event, I have been thinking quite a bit about recipes of late, although mostly about how to write them better. Inspired by Shuna's techniques of recipe writing, I have begun to change my recipe writing a bit, both in Toast (for others), and also for myself.

One change I copied directly from Eggbeater is the listing of ingredients before quantities. I find this change very helpful when checking whether I have the ingredients on hand, as well as for assembling them prior to cooking. I also admire the recipes of Dorie Greenspan, who is notable for pointing out that which may appear alarming, but is actually not a problem or mistake. (eg. It doesn't matter if it looks like the batter has separated, and so on.) But on to the assignment at hand.

1.Where do you obtain the recipes you prepare?

Everywhere. Cookbooks old and new, other people's blogs, epicurious.com, old ladies and gents, friends, coworkers, novels, memory, and made up out of the whole cloth. I spend a disgraceful amount of time thinking about what to make next.

2.How often do you cook a new recipe?

Several times a week. Writing a blog has spurred me on to try new things. But I always did like to experiment

3.How do you store your favorite recipes?

I have a little bound book-I'm on my second one, where I handwrite a recipe if I'm sure I'll be making it again. Once I'm sure I will keep it, I put in on the next page of the notebook, number the page, and list it in my running index in the back. As you can see, I sometimes doodle,too. I got this idea from the redfox, my daughter, who started doing it herself while in college. She, in turn, was inspired by her friend A. So this was certainly not my own idea, but I've been quite happy with it for about 10 years now, and intend to continue into other volumes if necessary.

4.How large is your "to try" pile? Is it organized? How?

My "to try" pile is a looseleaf ring binder, of which you see a corner here. The tabbed sections have general categories, and each has an envelope where I stuff recipes and articles. Every once in a while, I go through it for ideas, and throw out things I've lost interest in. It's still pretty bulbous. I haven't gone to files, because I'm trying to keep from taking up more space. When I'm being realistic, I realize I will never make most of them, as I generally don't wait long to try a recipe that really sounds great. Often, such a recipe will never make it to the binder in the first place.

5.What is the oldest recipe in your "to try" file?

Dunno. They are not organized that way.

6.Are you going to make everything in the pile

No.

7.Do you follow a recipe exactly?

I try to follow a recipe exactly if it is for a foreign dish, or something else I have never tasted before, the first time I make it. That way I know what it is supposed to taste like, before I vary it. Also, if I have eaten something truly fabulous, and been lucky enough to be given a recipe, my greed to re-experience the thing will probably keep me on track. That being said, the lack of one tool or ingredient probably won't stop me trying something, and I'm an inveterate taster-fiddler. And, of course, I frequently cook with no written recipe.

8. What is one recipe you are scared to try?

I have a lovely, handwritten copy of a family recipe for gingery potstickers from Winnie, who was a blogging by mail partner a while back. I love these, but the nature of the recipe is such that it makes many,many dumplings and is best done as a group venture. So I'm waiting til I can convince a cooking friend or two to participate, lest I get snowed under.

I am to tag people as follows. Please note that this is meant to be entirely without pressure; I will not be in the least offended if you don't bother.

Tag at least one new food blogger:
This food blogger is so new that she is not even public yet. When she is, if she has any interest in this, she can consider herself tagged. That would be you, J.M. -if you are reading this, you know who you are. Good grief.

Tag a blogger you have visited regularly, but do not interact with:
Nordljus, of the divine photos

Tag a blogger you visit all the time, and leave comments for:
anapestic- I know you're very busy right now, but at least you don't have to cook or take pictures for this. Only if you want to.

Tag anyone else you want
Want to be tagged? If your email arrives first, I'll tag you here.