Subj : Re: Gardens To : Ruth Haffly From : Dave Drum Date : Sat Aug 09 2025 06:11:00 -=> Ruth Haffly wrote to Dave Drum <=- DD> They each seemed to have a "special" dish that they clunng to. But DD> ther rest of their diets were the usual mish-mash. RH> As long as they have something of the old country to bring back RH> memories and introduce the first (and subsequent) generation to the old RH> world food, they will do well. Those that move to any new area and try RH> to hold on to all of their past do not assimilate as easily. That's RH> partly why we tried new foods wherever we moved--and some became fast RH> favorites. DD> And thus is born "fusion" cuisine. Some of which is very nice. But DD> some dishes should be "left as found". I have things in every cuisine DD> I have sampled over a long and checkered culinary journey that I DD> prefer in the original rather than fusion. Moussaka is one of those. RH> I think most things are better in their original than in a fusion. RH> Fusion doesn't always take the best of all contributions and make RH> something better; sometimes it ends up much worse than any of its RH> components. As I said above "Some of which is very nice." And, of course, there are some dishes which could gag a maggot out of a garbage can. DD> 8<----- ||||| ----->8 DD> I grew up in the Able Bake Charlie era. Not the Alpha Bravo Charlie DD> that came later. RH> My dad was in the former era also so when one of our cats had kittens, RH> he designated them Able, Baker, Charlie and Dog, figuring they'd all RH> find homes and new names. First 3 did find home, took mama over for RH> spaying and she died on the operating table (genetic heart defect, we RH> found out others in the same line had died young). We needed a cat for RH> the mousekeeping chores so kept Dog and kept her name. DD> I'll bet that got some raised eyebrows. I got adopted by a cat that DD> had been mutilated (de-clawed) who lowwlowed me around like a dog. So RH> It sure did! And then she had kittens. (G) They were born the day the RH> Apollo 11 astronauts took off so we designated them Neil, Buzz, Michael RH> and Diana (Roman goddess of the moon--I was taking Latin in high RH> school). They all found homes so we kept Dog for some time longer. DD> And King Chuck's first wife (Ms.Spencer) was not yet Princess Dianna. DD> Bv)= RH> Yes, but this Diana was born when the future princess was only 8 years RH> old and hardly anybody knew her. Besides, the kitten was cuter. (G) I thought Ms. Spencer was quite attractive despite her blonde hair. DD> I named hor "Spot" not knowing, since I never watched Star Dreck thar DD> one of the characters in the space opera had a cat named Spot. After RH> IIRC, that was Data, a robot in "ST; The Next Generation". Steve RH> enjoyed that show and since the tv was in the living room, I heard it. An "android". Robots are all electromechanical. Androids have meat on their framework. DD> several years she devloped some sort of kitty AIDS and I had to have DD> her euthanised. I buried her behing the garage and had Krumsieck DD> Monument inscribe a hunk of granite with "SPOT - A pretty good cat" DD> Only pet I ever put a stone up to commemorate. RH> Sounds like she was worth it. Dad buried our pets on the back hill but RH> none of them ever got a headstone. DD> Spot is the cat who slurped the sauce off of the pasta and meat, DD> leaving iton the saucer when I shared my supper with her one evening. DD> She was a might hunter - used to bring me bunnies ad birds she had DD> nailed - and her with no claws on her front end. RH> Our cats brought home mice, shrews, and the occaisional bird, even RH> fewer rabbits. More often than not, we would see a few remains and know RH> that the hunter had found prey. We had a shop cat at the satellite store. Callie was brought in when one of the installers got her, barely weaned, from a clinet. Her mother cat hadn't had time to teach her to hunt and eat her prey. She would nab a mouse and play with it until its little heart gave out. Then ignore the thing. Once I put one of her victims in her food dish hoping she'd get the idea that it was food. Ms. Calico scooped the mouse onto the floor and started crunching her kibble. DD> 8<----- CUT ----->8 DD> Except when the screener get it wrong. Mine had Dennis' son down as a DD> "generic robo-caller" until I went in a straightened it out. Bv)= RH> Sounds like a programming glitch. DD> If so it's not "You Mail" which is a pretty decent voice mail app.It DD> does voice playback as well as translatio0 to text. RH> We get some wierd voice mail translations sometimes. (G) Usually on words not in its lexicon. So, it makes a "best guess". And things begin to get weird. DD> Skin and bone the breast halves. Butterfly them if extra DD> thick. Pound to 1/4" - 1/3" thick (I use a heavy rolling DD> pin and really lean into it). RH> We mince a good sized clove of garlic and brown it slightly in oilve RH> oil as the first step in making the sauce. DD> Title: Cauliflower Piccata DD> Categories: Vegetables, Beans, Citrus, Herbs DD> Yield: 4 servings RH> I'll stick with the chicken but if I need to do a vegetarian one, I'll RH> use tofu. DD> I likes me cauliflower. I have yet to discover a way that I don't DD> like. RH> I like it too, but just thinking about what other alternatives to meat RH> might work. I'd press the tofu to get most of the water out, then treat RH> it like the chicken cutlets. Only place i get tofu on purpose is in hot & sour soup. MMMMM----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.06 Title: Hot & Sour Soup Categories: Mushrooms, Pork, Poultry, Vegetables, Chilies Yield: 5 servings 1/2 oz Dried wood ear mushrooms 6 oz Pork tenderloin; in 1/2" - thick strips 2 tb + 2 ts low-sodium soy sauce 2 ts Shaoxing wine or dry sherry 1/2 c + 1 ts cornstarch 8 c Chicken broth 4 oz Shiitake or baby bella - mushrooms; stemmed, sliced - 3/4" thick 8 oz Dry spiced tofu; in 3/4" - slices; opt 4 oz Firm tofu; in 1/2" cubes 8 oz Can sliced bamboo shoots; - drained 2 md Scallions; trimmed, thin - sliced, whites & greens - separated 1/2 c Rice vinegar; to taste 2 tb Dark soy sauce 2 ts Granulated sugar 1 1/2 ts Crushed red pepper; more to - taste 1/2 ts Ground white pepper; to - taste 1 lg Egg; beaten Bring 2 cups of water to a boil in a kettle or small pot. In a 4-cup heat-proof measuring cup or medium bowl, add the wood ear mushrooms, then pour the boiling water directly over them. Let sit until hydrated and doubled in size, about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, in another medium bowl, add the pork and 2 teaspoons of regular (low-sodium) soy sauce, Shaoxing wine and 1 teaspoon of cornstarch. Toss until well combined and marinate for 5 minutes. In a large, wide pot, bring 7 cups of the broth to a boil over high. Reduce heat to medium, then add the marinated pork, shiitake mushrooms, spiced tofu, firm tofu, bamboo shoots, scallion whites, vinegar, remaining 2 tablespoons regular soy sauce, dark soy sauce, sugar, crushed red pepper and white pepper. Simmer until mushrooms have softened and flavor has developed, 5 to 7 minutes. While the soup is simmering, drain the wood ear mushrooms; discard the liquid and thinly slice into strips. Trim and discard any hard ends that haven’t softened. Stir into the soup. Whisk the remaining 1/2 cup cornstarch with the remaining 1 cup chicken broth in a small bowl. Slowly stir into the soup; continue stirring until the soup has thickened, 30 seconds to 1 minute. Taste the soup and add more pepper or vinegar, if desired. Stir the soup in a circular motion and slowly drizzle in the beaten egg to create ribbons. Simmer for 1 minute. Divide soup among bowls and top with scallion greens. Serve immediately. TIPS: 1: If purchasing a whole tenderloin, remove the 6 ounces needed for this recipe and freeze the remaining piece, wrapped tightly in plastic. Or, cut the remaining piece into strips and freeze in a single layer on a sheet pan, then transfer to a zip-top bag and store it in the freezer for a quick stir-fry. 2: Dry spiced tofu, sometimes known as five-spice tofu, is a vacuum-sealed package of firm, braised tofu blocks that can be found at Asian supermarkets or online. It’s usually smaller in size compared to traditional silken and firm tofu packages, but the tofu packs a big punch of flavor. It can be used in soups and stir-fry. Look for it in the refrigerated area near the other tofu packages. By: Vivian Chan-Tam Yield: 4 to 6 servings RECIPE FROM: https://cooking.nytimes.com Uncle Dirty Dave's Archives MMMMM .... Bacon is its own food group! --- MultiMail/Win v0.52 * Origin: SouthEast Star Mail HUB - SESTAR (1:3634/12) .