kidzdoc's No Fluff Zone, Act 2

This photo taken from Piedmont Park in Midtown Atlanta after the January 2014 snowfall should match how my neighborhood will look by this time tomorrow.




Currently reading:

    

Madame Verona Comes Down the Hill by Dimitri Verlhurst
Chloroform: The Quest for Oblivion by Linda Stratmann
Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond
Samarkand and Other Markets I Have Known by Wole Soyinka

Completed books: (TBR = book acquired prior to 1/1/16)

January:
1. Nutshell by Ian McEwan
2. A Question of Power by Bessie Head TBR
3. The Assault by Harry Mulisch

Classic 20th Century Novels from the African Diaspora

Betsey Brown by Ntozake Shange
Blind Man with a Pistol by Chester Himes
The Emigrants by George Lamming
The Famished Road by Ben Okri
If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison (re-read)
The Marrow of Tradition by Charles W. Chesnutt
Maps by Nuruddin Farah
Moses, Man of the Mountain by Zora Neale Hurston
Native Son by Richard Wright
Petals of Blood by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o
A Question of Power by Bessie Head
Sozaboy by Ken Saro-Wiwa
Texaco by Patrick Chamoiseau

Notable 21st Century Literature from the African Diaspora

Abyssinian Chronicles by Moses Isegawa
Blackass by A. Igoni Barrett
Black Deutschland by Darryl Pinckney
The Book of Memory by Petina Gappah
Claire of the Sea Light by Edwidge Danticat
That Deadman Dance by Kim Scott
The Drift Latitudes by Jamal Mahjoub
Fifteen Dogs by André Alexis
Foreign Gods, Inc. by Okey Ndibe
Ghana Must Go by Taiye Selasi
The Good Lord Bird by James McBride
Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Juice! by Ishmael Reed
Ladivine by Marie NDiaye
Nervous Conditions by Tsitsi Dangarembga
Pym by Mat Johnson
Someone Knows My Name by Lawrence Hill
The Turner House by Angela Flournoy
The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
Wading Home: A Novel of New Orleans by Rosalyn Story
Welcome to Braggsville by T. Geronimo Johnson
Zone One by Colson Whitehead

Nonfiction from the African Diaspora

Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Beyond Black and White: From Civil Rights to Barack Obama by Manning Marable
Black in Latin America by Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
Changing My Mind: Occasional Essays by Zadie Smith
Darkwater: Voices from Within the Veil by W.E.B. Du Bois
Democracy in Black: How Race Still Enslaves the American Soul by Eddie S. Glaude, Jr.
Going to Meet the Man by James Baldwin
If They Come in the Morning … : Voices of Resistance, edited by Angela Y. Davis
In My Father's House: Africa in the Philosophy of Culture by K. Anthony Appiah
Known and Strange Things: Essays by Teju Cole
Letter to Jimmy by Alain Mabanckou
The Lights of Pointe-Noire by Alain Mabanckou
The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander
More Than Just Race: Being Black and Poor in the Inner City by William Julius Wilson
A Power Stronger Than Itself: The AACM and American Experimental Music by George E. Lewis
Respect Yourself: Stax Records and the Soul Explosion by Robert Gordon
Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi
Tradition and the Black Atlantic: Critical Theory in the African Diaspora by Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
The Wretched of the Earth by Frantz Fanon

Autobiographies, Biographies and Memoirs from the African Diaspora

The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama
Black Boy by Richard Wright
Dreams from My Father by Barack Obama
Frantz Fanon: A Biography by David Macey
I Never Had it Made by Jackie Robinson
The Last Holiday: A Memoir by Gil Scott-Heron
Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela
Mingus Speaks by John F. Goodman
Street Poison: The Biography of Iceberg Slim by Justin Gifford
Sweet Thunder: The Life and Times of Sugar Ray Robinson by Wil Haygood
Zenzele: A Letter for My Daughter by J. Nozipo Maraire

2017 Booker Prize longlist: TBD

2017 Man Booker International Prize longlist: TBA 3/17/14

2016 Booker Prize longlist:

Paul Beatty, The Sellout
J.M. Coetzee, The Schooldays of Jesus
A.L. Kennedy, Serious Sweet
Deborah Levy, Hot Milk
Graeme Macrae Burnet, His Bloody Project
Ian McGuire, The North Water
David Means, Hystopia
Wyl Menmuir, The Many
Ottessa Moshfegh, Eileen
Virginia Reeves, Work Like Any Other
Elizabeth Strout, My Name Is Lucy Barton
David Szalay, All That Man Is
Madeleine Thien, Do Not Say We Have Nothing

2016 Man Booker International Prize longlist:



José Eduardo Agualusa (Angola), A General Theory of Oblivion, translated by Daniel Hahn
Elena Ferrante (Italy), The Story of the Lost Child, translated by Ann Goldstein
Han Kang (South Korea), The Vegetarian, translated by Deborah Smith
Maylis de Kerangal (France) The Heart: A Novel, translated by Jessica Moore
Eka Kurniawan (Indonesia), Man Tiger, translated by Labodalih Sembiring
Yan Lianke (China), The Four Books, translated by Carlos Rojas
Fiston Mwanza Mujila (Democratic Republic of Congo/Austria), Tram 83, translated by Roland Glasser
Raduan Nassar (Brazil), A Cup of Rage, translated by Stefan Tobler
Marie NDiaye (France), Ladivine, translated by Jordan Stump
Kenzaburō Ōe (Japan), Death by Water, translated by Deborah Boliver Boehm
Aki Ollikainen (Finland), White Hunger, translated by Emily Jeremiah & Fleur Jeremiah
Orhan Pamuk (Turkey), A Strangeness in My Mind, translated by Ekin Oklap
Robert Seethaler (Austria), A Whole Life, translated by Charlotte Collins

Iberian Literature and Nonfiction

A Bad End by Fernando Royuela
The Calligraphy of Dreams by Juan Marsé
Catalonia: A Cultural History by Michael Eaude
The Dolls' Room by Llorenç Villalonga
Fado Alexandrino by António Lobo Antunes
The Gray Notebook by Josep Pla
The History of Catalonia by F. Xavier Hernàndez
The Inquisitors' Manual by António Lobo Antunes
Life Embitters by Josep Pla
Monastery by Eduardo Halfon
Obabakoak by Bernardo Atxaga
Paris by Marcos Giralt Torrente
Private Life by Josep Maria de Sagarra
The Selected Stories of Mercé Rodoreda
The New Spaniards by John Hooper
Things Look Different in the Light by Medardo Fraile
The Yellow Rain by Julio Llamazares

Medicine, Illness and Public Health

AIDS at 30: A History by Victoria A. Harden
An Anatomy of Addiction: Sigmund Freud, William Halsted, and the Miracle Drug Cocaine by Howard Markel
Asleep: The Forgotten Epidemic That Remains One of Medicine's Greatest Mysteries by Molly Caldwell Crosby
Bedlam: London and Its Mad by Katharine Arnold
Death in a Small Package: A Short History of Anthrax by Susan D. Jones
Hope in Hell: Inside the World of Doctors Without Borders by Dan Bortolotti
Jonas Salk: A Life by Charlotte DeCroes Jacobs
The Killer of Little Shepherds: A True Crime Story and the Birth of Forensic Science by Douglas Starr
The Last Asylum: A Memoir of Madness in Our Times by Barbara Taylor
Madhouse: A Tragic Tale of Megalomania and Modern Medicine by Andrew Scull
Madmen: A Social History of Madhouses, Mad-Doctors & Lunatics by Roy Porter
The Man Who Closed the Asylums: Franco Basaglia and the Revolution in Mental Health Care by John Foot
Mania: A Short History of Bipolar Disorder by David Healy
Missing Microbes: How the Overuse of Antibiotics is Fueling Our Modern Plagues by Martin J. Blaser, MD
The Price of Silence: A Mom's Perspective on Mental Illness by Liza Long
Proper Doctoring: A Book for Patients and Their Doctors by David Mendel
States of Mind: Experiences at the Edge of Consciousness by Wellcome Collection

The Rise of Populism and Related Current Affairs

The Unwinding: An Inner History of the New America by George Packer
Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right by Arlie Russell Hochschild
Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by J.D. Vance
Listen, Liberal: Or, Whatever Happened to the Party of the People? by Thomas Frank
The Populist Explosion: How the Great Recession Transformed American and European Politics by John B. Judis
White Trash: The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America by Nancy Isenberg

Reading Globally

Quarter 1: Works by writers from the Benelux countries



The Assault by Harry Mulisch
The Darkroom of Damocles by Willem Frederik Hermans
Madame Verona Comes Down the Hill by Dimitri Verhulst
Rituals by Cees Nooteboom
Roads to Santiago by Cees Nooteboom
Three Bedrooms in Manhattan by Georges Simenon

Quarter 2: Travel writing by non-European and non-North American authors



The European Tribe by Caryl Phillips
Looking for Transwonderland: Travels in Nigeria by Noo Saro-Wiwa
One Day I Will Write About This Place: A Memoir by Binyavanga Wainaina

Quarter 3: Works by writers who write in what are considered minority languages within their own country

Quarter 4: Writers from the Scandinavian countries and associated territories

Voices of Color/Social Justice

Al' America: Travels Through America's Arab and Islamic Roots by Jonathan Curiel
Chavs: The Demonization of the Working Class by Owen Jones
A Crime So Monstrous: Face-to-Face with Modern-Day Slavery by E. Benjamin Skinner
Criminal of Poverty: Growing Up Homeless in America by Tiny, aka Lisa Gray-Garcia
To Die in Mexico: Dispatches from Inside the Drug War by John Gibler
Dying to Live: A Story of U.S. Immigration in an Age of Global Apartheid by Joseph Nevins
The Ethics of Identity by Kwame Anthony Appiah
Ethnicities: Children of Immigrants in America, edited by Rubén G. Rumbaut and Alejandro Portes
Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond
For the Muslims: Islamophobia in France by Edwy Plenel
The Good Immigrant, edited by Nikesh Shukla
A History of Violence: Living and Dying in Central America by Óscar Martínez
The Honor Code: How Moral Revolutions Happen by Kwame Anthony Appiah
How Does it Feel to Be a Problem?: Being Young and Arab in America by Moustafa Bayoumi
Howard Zinn on Race by Howard Zinn
Latino Americans: The 500-Year Legacy That Shaped a Nation by Ray Suarez
Latino Immigrants and the Transformation of the U.S. South by Mary E. Odem
Men Explain Things to Me by Rebecca Solnit
The Mosaic of Islam: A Conversation with Perry Anderson by Suleiman Mourad
The Muslims Are Coming!: Islamophobia, Extremism, and the Domestic War on Terror by Arun Kundnani
The Other Slavery: The Uncovered Story of Indian Enslavement in America by Andrés Reséndez
A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn
Rebel Music: Race, Empire, and the New Muslim Youth Culture by Hisham D. Aidi
Serve the People: Making Asian America in the Long Sixties by Karen L. Ishizuka
Trans: A Memoir by Juliet Jacques
Violent Borders: Refugees and the Right to Move by Reece Jones
We Are All Moors: Ending Centuries of Crusades Against Muslims and Other Minorities by Anouar Majid
We Are the Ones We Have Been Waiting For: Inner Light in a Time of Darkness by Alice Walker
We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
What Everyone Needs to Know About Islam by John L. Esposito
Who Are We: And Should It Matter in the Twenty-First Century? by Gary Younge

2017 Wellcome Book Prize longlist: TBA 1/30/17

2016 Wellcome Book Prize shortlist:



Playthings by Alex Pheby
It's All in Your Head by Suzanne O'Sullivan
The Last Act of Love by Cathy Rentzenbrink
Neurotribes by Steve Silberman
Signs for Lost Children by Sarah Moss
The Outrun by Amy Liptrot

2015 Wellcome Book Prize shortlist:



The Iceberg by Marion Coutts
Do No Harm by Henry Marsh
Bodies of Light by Sarah Moss
The Incredible Unlikeliness of Being by Alice Roberts
My Age of Anxiety by Scott Stossel
All My Puny Sorrows by Miriam Toews

Books acquired and purchased:

January:
1. The Lives of Things by José Saramago (1 January, Verso e-book ($1))
2. Syria Burning: A Short History of a Catastrophe by Charles Glass (1 January, Verso e-book ($1))
3. Human Acts by Han Kang (12 January, LT Early Reviewers ARC)

Planned books to read in January:

The Assault by Harry Mulisch
Chloroform: The Quest for Oblivion by Linda Stratmann
Democracy in Black: How Race Still Enslaves the American Soul by Eddie S. Glaude, Jr.
Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond
Judas by Amos Oz
Madame Verona Comes Down the Hill by Dimitri Verhulst
The Mortifications by Derek Palacio (LT Early Reviewers book)
My Struggle: Book Three by Karl Ove Knausgaard
A Question of Power by Bessie Head

Hey, saw your lamb recipe on the other thread. Looks awesome - I think I'll give it a try this weekend.

Happy new thread, Darryl! Sorry about the back but I'm glad you can stay in and rest for a few days.

Sorry to see about your back, Darryl! Try and enjoy your weekend off though!

Happy new thread! One of my cats is fascinated by the snow and is checking it out. His attention has caught the attention of his brother who has joined him at the window on the next perch up on the tree. They are fun to watch.

>12 drneutron: Hi, Jim! Congratulations on being the first to visit my thread for the second time in a row.

I found a few recipes when I searched for "pasta" and "lamb" online, but that one was easily the most appealing one. I'd love to make it today, as I can't look at that photo without drooling profusely. Hopefully you, Kim and I can make it this weekend.

>13 katiekrug: Thanks, Katie! I'm very grateful that I can rest at home this weekend, due to my back and the incoming snowstorm.

>14 ChelleBearss: Thanks, Chelle! I shall do my best.

>15 thornton37814: Hi, Lori! I looked at the forecast on WSB TV this morning, and saw the band of snow that was headed toward East Tennessee. Nothing will happen here until about noon, and it looks as though we'll undergo a transition from rain to sleet and freezing rain, and finally to snow as the temperatures drop from the mid 30s to below freezing. I hope that you, Ellie and Carrie make out okay, especially since it seems that y'all will get more snow than we will.

>11 kidzdoc: That reminds me, Darryl, I should add The assault to my January reading pile.

Happy new thread, Darryl - I hope your back is feeling better today...

It's snowing here now but the roads are still too warm for the snow to stick. I don't think they're expecting much accumulation from this band. The overnight band may be a different story!

We have a student worker from Myanmar who has just seen his first snow ever!

>19 cbl_tn: This is still the band that was supposed to have finished up 3.5 hours ago. I'm beginning to see it sticking a little bit to the road here, but not too bad, especially with a little traffic on it. The cats are enjoying watching the snow come down. I'm a little concerned about tonight's forecast with two more bands coming in, but we'll see. It may not be as bad or it may be worse than expected.

Happy New Thread, Darryl. During the last few days we got snow, too.

Good morning, Darryl.

Snow in Atlanta; hard to imagine! That photo in >1 kidzdoc: could be Chicago, easily, but I wouldn't have guessed Atlanta.

I'm glad you're reading Evicted; very important book, IMO, and I was really impressed with how he thoroughly supported every point. Can't wait to hear what you think.

I'm interested in the pasta dish as well. We'll have to make some adjustment for my "no hot spice" palate but it does look good. My only other concern is the price of lamb, ground or otherwise.

Hope your back is feeling better, Daryl, or at least that it will be very soon. I remember that photo from 2014 when it snowed in Atlanta ... that's just not right!

No, I haven't read Human Acts yet. I am terribly far behind with my LTER reads & reviews. I have one more to read that I received before H.A., so I suspect I won't get to H.A. until next month.

Evicted is due tomorrow back at the library and I can't renew as it has quite a few more holds. I'm about halfway through; will try to make good progress on it today.

I finished Evicted last week. It was excellent. I am looking forward to What Patients Say, What Doctors Hear by Danielle Ofri. I'm planning on reading it for next month's CultureCAT (Medicine and Public Health) over in the Category Challenge Group. I read your review of it and posted a reminder on my CC thread.

I hope your back is better Darryl.

>17 FAMeulstee: That sounds good, Anita. I'd enjoy some company when I read The Assault, which I'll probably do next weekend.

>18 scaifea: Thanks, Amber. My back is doing better this afternoon, especially after I took naprosyn and had a long mid morning to early afternoon nap. It's still a slight bit twitchy, though, so I'll continue to take it easy and not do too much today, including cooking. I'm about to have my last serving of chicken matzoh ball soup, and I'll probably have African sweet potato soup with peanut butter, black eyed peas and beans (with bread!!!) for dinner.

>19 cbl_tn: It's stopped raining here for the moment, although there is plenty more on the way. It's just above freezing (33 F) now, and there has been a mixture of rain and sleet falling in the metro area. It will change over to snow in the late afternoon or evening after sunset, but hopefully there won't be much ice that will accumulate before that happens. The snowfall forecast amounts continue to increase slightly, as the National Weather Service is now calling for 4-6 inches of snow in the city and immediate suburbs, up from 1-3 inches two days ago and 2-4 inches yesterday afternoon.

Children's did declare a Code White earlier this afternoon, so the majority of the physicians and nurses working in its hospitals will be sleeping there this weekend. The urgent care centers will close in minutes, at 3 pm instead of the usual 10 pm, but of course the hospitals will remain open.

That's good that the snow in eastern Tennessee isn't sticking, as it looks as though you and we in North Georgia have a lot more ahead of us. I'm sure that the student from Myanmar must be thrilled to see it!

This is the latest installation of Incidental Comics, by Grant Snider:

About an hour ago I got a weather alert on my phone that Knoxville is under a winter weather warning. That's new. It must mean they're more certain that we're in the path, or that the predicted accumulation has increased. The TV forecast at lunchtime said 1-3 inches in Knoxville, and I'm on the side of town that will be closer to 3 inches.

Our student from Myanmar keeps commenting on how soft the snow is!

>20 thornton37814: The National Weather Service's office in Morristown, TN isn't displaying the snowfall forecast map that it did last night and early this morning. The hazardous weather outlook does predict that most areas in eastern Tennessee will get 3-7 inches of snow, though.

>21 Ameise1: Thanks, Barbara! How much snow did you get in Zürich? I would imagine that accumulating snow is far more common there than it is in the Deep South; this will be our first snowfall of any significance in Atlanta since January 2014, as I don't think we had more than a dusting during our last winter storm in January 2015.

>22 jnwelch: Good afternoon, Joe! Atlanta doesn't get many winter storms with snow, but it's also not unheard of. If the current forecast holds this will be the heaviest snowfall here since at least 1993, when there was a vicious Nor'easter that paralyzed much of the Atlantic seaboard. I remember that storm well, as I was supposed to fly from Newark to Cleveland for a medical school interview at Case Western Reserve, but thousands of flights from Washington to Boston were cancelled and I had to reschedule my interview.

I'm enjoying Evicted so far; hopefully I'll finish it by Sunday.

I'll take some of that snow in my direction, thanks! We were supposed to get about an inch last night but I didn't see a single flake.

That lamb pasta dish looks delicious! Hope you feel well enough tomorrow to putter about in the kitchen.

We got less than a half inch of snow, but at 24 degrees ("feels like 16"), it's sticking. Temps here won't reach freezing until Monday, but no more snow is expected. I'm very glad that the fireplace cube I ordered arrived yesterday--closest I'll get to a fireplace, but it makes the room cozy.

>23 Morphidae: I'll wait to make the One Pot Mediterranean Lamb & Mushroom Pasta until tomorrow, Morphy. I think I have ground cloves in my spice rack, and if so I do have everything I need to make it, save for a couple of minor substitutions. I'm sure that you could substitute ground beef or turkey for lamb (which, as you say, tends to be quite expensive), and leave out the cayenne pepper (although I definitely won't!). Kim and Jim are thinking of making it this weekend as well, so you may read three opinions about it. If it tastes as good as it looks it will be amazing!

I also have two cans of artichoke hearts in my pantry, along with a container of shiitake mushrooms, chopped kale and plenty of pasta and different cheeses, so I'll probably make a vegetarian pasta with those ingredients on Sunday. Once I make those two dishes I'll be well stocked with prepared foods for the upcoming work week. I also have asparagus and small red potatoes, and I'll likely cook those tomorrow or Sunday as side dishes as well.

>24 lit_chick: Thanks, Nancy. Although that picture isn't mine it does show my neighborhood, as I live next to the W Midtown Hotel. The Weather Channel's main offices are just west of Atlanta, roughly five miles from where I live, and I'm sure that there will be live reports from there tomorrow, if not today.

>25 streamsong: I suspect that most of us are behind on reviewing LT ER books that we've received, Janet; I know that I am. I received two copies of The Mortifications last year, so I'll want to read it later this month. I gave my second copy to my neighbor, who is one of the ER physicians at Children's and lives in my building on the same floor along with her husband and son.

Good luck on finishing Evicted soon; I look forward to your comments about it.

>26 luvamystery65: Hi, Roberta! I'm glad that you liked Evicted; I'm enjoying it so far. What Patients Say, What Doctors Hear is making the rounds in my group. I've enjoyed reading several of Danielle Ofri's books, but IMO this is her best and most important one yet. I look forward to your comments about it.

My back does feel better at the moment, but it's definitely not back to normal yet. I do have a slipped intervertebral lumbar disc (L4-L5) that acts up from time to time, and this is one of the most significant episodes in the past few years, although far from the worst one a decade or more ago.

>29 cbl_tn: Ah. We've been under a winter weather warning in metro Atlanta for over 24 hours now, as all the models indicate that we'll get significant precipitation from this storm, even the most modest ones.

Several of my classmates and closest friends at Pitt had never seen snow before the first storm we had just before Halloween in 1993. They were excited to see it then, but by January, when we were pummeled with one storm after another along with brutally cold temperatures, they had seen enough of it. Hopefully your student won't feel the same way later this year.

>31 norabelle414: Hi, Nora! Is this snowfall supposed to reach Washington? I understand that the Carolinas and Virginia will be affected by it, but I haven't looked to see where it's supposed to go after that.

>32 Cariola: The ground lamb is in my refrigerator and is nearly completely thawed, so I'll need to use it by Sunday, as I probably won't have time to cook during the upcoming work week. I'd like to make the Mediterranean lamb & mushroom pasta tomorrow morning in time for lunch, but I'll almost certainly make it no later than Sunday afternoon.

The temperatures will stay at or before freezing from tonight through Sunday afternoon. It's supposed to drop down to 24 F tonight, only reach 32 F for a high tomorrow, plummet to 16 F Saturday night (which is about as cold as it gets in Atlanta), and only make it to 35 F on Saturday. We're supposed to top out at 53 F on Tuesday, so hopefully whatever snow we get will be gone by the middle of next week.

Sounds like the South will be getting your version of Snowmageddon. Stay safe and warm. Do you have emergency supplies in case of power loss?

>35 Morphidae: Thanks, Morphy. I don't have emergency supplies, and my "emergency plan" would be to drive to the hospital I work at, which I have done before when tornadoes, tropical storms or hurricanes have passed through Atlanta. Needless to say the hospital will have an emergency power source as good as anyplace else in the city, and I would almost certainly be able to find an empty bed in a patient's room, a physician call room, or, in the worst case scenario, I could sleep in the office in which I and my partners work. I'm used to driving on icy, snowy roads, so I would feel comfortable driving there if I had to.

I think you are about to be tut-tutted ......

Currently we got only 15cm in Zürich but we should get more in the next few days.

>37 roundballnz: You may be right, Alex.

>38 Ameise1: Let's see...1 in = 2.54 cm, if I remember correctly, so rounding to 2.5 cm/in that's roughly six inches of snow, Barbara, which is at the top end of what Atlanta is supposed to receive between now and Saturday morning. I'm sure that your city can handle snow better than mine can.

Yep, we're used to it. Our car won't be used for the upcoming week. We're travelling by public transportation. It's much safer.

Happy new thread Darryl. Love >28 kidzdoc:

>34 kidzdoc: Currently they're predicting that it will stop short of DC, but we'll probably get a dusting.

I just checked my pantry, and I do have ground cloves, as I thought, so I have everything I need to make Mediterranean Lamb & Mushroom Pasta tomorrow. *happy dance*

>40 Ameise1: That's great that you can use public transportation this weekend, Barbara. There are no major supermarkets or other stores with short walking distance of me, although I could walk to the food court in Colony Square, the relatively short white building next to the W Hotel in my opening photo, if I was in the mood for something to eat other than what I have at home. I seriously doubt I'll go there, though.

>41 Caroline_McElwee: Thanks, Caroline. I'm a fan of Grant Snider's work, including his most recent installation.

>42 norabelle414: That's good news, Nora. I'm sure that it won't be much longer before the Mid Atlantic has its ?first major snowstorm, though.

Just be careful with that happy dance, we don't want you putting your back out again! Speaking as a person who has fractured her spine/pelvis before now, and who has constant issues with her back, I can sympathise. All it takes is one bad nights sleep with me quite tense and I'm in serious discomfort. I hope it's starting to settle down now.

I'm glad you don't have to work this weekend, but also glad you have a solid plan for snowmaggedon. 6" of snow would cripple this area of the UK, though in Scotland or Wales it might not be.

The lamb pasta sounds amazing. I might try and convince TheBoyfriend to make it this weekend.

>37 roundballnz: >39 kidzdoc: Only if he lived someone where he could *actually* get snowed in versus the South's version of being snowed in. He's lived in the north. I'm sure he can handle up to 6" of snow. We do it every winter. Even without the plows if they are running behind. And it sounds like it's going to be more snow than ice.

You don't live very far from the hospital either, do ya, doc?

Speaking as a person living in rural Nova Scotia - I think it's cute when you Southerners talk about snow.

Our weatherwoman just mentioned the forecast for snow in Atlanta at the start of her coverage--it's nationwide news!

The lamb recipe looks good. I usually use ground lamb when I'm in the mood for moussaka.

I was in the mood for pasta after the talk above, so I made an embarrassingly simple but tasty fettuccine Alfredo, using freshly grated Gruyere cheese, which was very quick and hit the spot.

>44 lunacat: Whoa...I didn't know that your fractured your spine & pelvis, Jenny! Yes, your recurrent back issues are quite understandable now.

It's very unlikely that my building would lose power, save for a very crippling ice storm, and if that happened and if we lost electricity and heat emergency supplies at home wouldn't be sufficient, especially with temperatures that will stay below freezing until Sunday afternoon, and I would drive to the hospital even if I had supplies.

Good to hear that your guy knows how to cook! Do let us know if he makes it, and how it turns out. The ground lamb in my refrigerator is fully thawed, so I'm all set to make the pasta tomorrow.

>45 Morphidae: Right, Morphy. As I may have mentioned above I've driven in bad Nor'easters in the Philadelphia area and New Jersey with 1+ foot accumulations and 2+ feet snowdrifts, along with significant snowfalls in Pittsburgh, which has steep hills throughout the city. I've driven through six inches of snow dozens of times over the years, so I would have no fear of driving to the hospital, which is 11 miles north of where I live, if I had to, and I'll drive there on Monday morning, regardless of how much snow we get.

My worst driving experience took place when I drove from Cleveland to Pittsburgh in a blinding snowstorm in the middle of the night after I flew from LA to Cleveland after a residency interview at UCLA, which would have been in January 1997. I foolishly decided to make the drive that night instead of staying in a hotel room near Hopkins Airport, and once I got on the Ohio Turnpike I knew that I had made a bad decision. Fortunately I got (far) behind an 18 wheeler, and let him guide me, as I drove in near whiteout conditions and could only see his lights and the tracks on the snow covered highway. I don't think I've ever prayed as fervently as I did that night, and I've never been so relieved to end a journey.

>46 Deedledee: Uh..."you Southerners", Deedledee??? I've never heard from you before, so I assume you don't know that I grew up in the NYC and Philadelphia metropolitan areas, lived in Pittsburgh for four years, and didn't move to the Deep South until I was 36 years of age. I've driven in plenty of inclement weather in nearly 20 years of driving, so your characterization of me as a (clueless) Southerner is inaccurate and, if I'm being honest, a bit insulting.

45> I say this from a country which has increasingly regular earthquakes/storms so we are advised to always have a Emergency pack which enables us to survive 3-4 days without outside help ( whether everyone does is a moot point) ..... am sure doc can manage a snowstorm though but maybe not a power cut ?

>47 ronincats: I'm not surprised, Roni. The Snowmageddon of 2014 was news all over the US, and it certainly gave Atlanta, its elected officials and residents a bad name, and made the city a laughing stock.

I haven't checked the latest forecast for the past couple of hours. Nothing is happening here, and won't until later this evening, and particularly after midnight. Crud...the city is now supposed to get more ice and less snow, which could make for very hazardous driving conditions.

Thanks for the reminder about moussaka. I do want to try it in a local restaurant, and make it, using the recipe that Kerry shared with me last year.

>49 roundballnz: Good point, Alex. I think of emergency kits more for hurricanes, tropical storms and tornadoes that directly hit the city than for winter storms, although we've had more of the latter category than the former the past few years. Assuming that roads were passable I would still set up camp in the hospital in case my building was significantly damaged by a tropical storm, hurricane or tornado, and do the same for a significant power outage caused by an ice storm. Obviously that's not an option that everyone has, but it's one that has served me well in the past.

Emergency kits- I took them seriously after the " big storm-freeze up" and loss of power three years ago. I have a " windup" radio that can also charge phones and a windup flashlight/radio. I was also told that in a storm I should have a source of water( big pitcher in the fridge. ) I also got a nifty emergency kit from the Canadian Automobile Association that I leave in my car trunk. -shovel, get help sign, charger cables, and more.
Have I used anything- yes- the flashlight/radio - came in handy during the last power outage.

Good heavens! Your threads are passing at a remarkable rate!

Did I miss the hat discussion?



Stay warm and cozy, my friend!

>51 kidzdoc: >52 torontoc: I really need to get around to putting an emergency kit in my car since I have a commute to work. We had a major storm, in 2010 I think, that shut down our highway 402 for many days with hundreds of people trapped in their cars. My police agency was using snowmobiles to try and get people out as well as using military helicopters because we got so much snow so fast that even large trucks couldn't get through.

>52 torontoc: Now that you mention it I do have a windup radio and a windup flashlight, along with a battery powered lantern. It would be easy enough to put a gallon of water in my refrigerator, so I'll do that shortly. I have a portable battery charger along with a shovel and emergency kit in my car, and I went to the gas station on Monday, so I have well over 4/5 of a full tank. One thing I don't have are many canned goods or other foods I could consume if I didn't have a power source, so that would be something for me to think about in the future.

>48 kidzdoc:
I was trying to be flippant and funny. No offence intended.

>55 kidzdoc: Canned goods- that is something I have to look into- one of my friends had canned vegetables that we ate during the last power outage- I should buy some!
You are well prepared with your emergency kits- I gave them as presents to my nieces last year.

>53 michigantrumpet: Hi, Marianne! Yes, this thread is zipping along at a Cranwickesque pace.

Nice hat!

>54 ChelleBearss: Same here, Chelle. I've gotten a bit lax since I moved from Pittsburgh to Atlanta, so I don't have an ice scraper, shovel and rock salt, which I always had in my cars when I lived in the Northeast. My brother bought me a Halo Bolt portable charger for Christmas in 2015, which includes a car jump starter, a portable power source and an LED flashlight. I haven't opened it, but I will now, and start charging it, just in case.

>56 Deedledee: I'm sorry that I took offense to your message, Deedledee. However, those of us who live in the Deep South, whether they are born and bred Southerners or transplants, can be a bit sensitive to what they perceive as disparaging comments about us, especially from strangers.

>57 torontoc: I do have some canned items that I could eat if I was desperate, but nothing of any substance. Once this storm has passed I'll have to be sure that I have appropriate foods on hand.

>58 kidzdoc: It is indeed buddy and I take it as a compliment that this early year posting frenzy has some association with my itchy posting fingers. Your threads zip along so quickly because they are pretty much guaranteed for good discussion and the occasional mention of a book or two. Fluff minimised of course.

And on the absence of fluff - I do think that yours is the only thread that has me tempted to go out and buy a fedora.

>60 PaulCranswick: Thanks, Paul. I think this thread is far more fluffy and considerably less literary so far than Rachel's is!

Well, I'd make it more literary if only I could, but I'm currently reading fluff.
Your sure snow may or may not make it up to SE NC - depends on whether the precip leaves before the freezing temps get here - right now it's in the mid-40s.
Stay warm and take care of yourself, friend!

>16 kidzdoc: Did my grocery shopping today, so the lamb pasta will be tried this weekend! Snow is supposed to hit around noon and it doesn't take much to shut things down around here. Very hilly, salt on streets is not allowed. One of our cars is an FJ Cruiser and it does quite well, 4-wheel drive and great tires. The other car, not so much. I hope to get a TKD class in the morning and then we will see how the day goes. My Master is having a 1st birthday party for his son (I held the shower at my house last year) and the Demo team is invited along with other Masters. But it's scheduled for early evening--I hope the weather cooperates--I really want go!!

I have sympathy with Darryl's snowmageddon! It only takes half an inch of snow to cause chaos around here as well.

How did I miss a new thread and 64 posts? I must be slipping or it is brain freeze.

Happy New One, Darryl! And Happy Weekend, my friend.

Second thread already!

>59 kidzdoc: Dee is Canadian. Even Americans from up where I live are Southerners in comparison to the folk up there. Different frame of reference from what you perceived you were reacting to.

Well, I fractured a sacroiliac joint and had a small crack at the base of my spine, so it's not really as dramatic as it sounds! Ironically, it causes me very little pain now, and my back pain is always mid to upper back, where I've got a couple of weak muscles that cause the problems. But I can sympathise in all sorts of ways. Fingers crossed it's feeling a lot better by the time you read this.

Yup, my guy is the cook around here. I do very very little, though I'm the baker in the household. I've also decided that the lamb pasta is within my capabilities so I'll do that at some point this week, ready for when he gets home (ala a dutiful housewife ;) ). My making dinner happens about once in a blue moon.

I see snowmageddon hasn't arrived, but I hope icemageddon has also stayed away, and you have a relaxing weekend with cooking and good books.

Good Saturday morning (or afternoon), everyone! The Great Atlanta Snowfall of 2017 was a huge bust, as there is only the barest amount of snow on trees and grassy areas, as it rained during the night. Unfortunately what we do have are treacherous icy roads in and around the city, with dozens of significant accidents since midnight. The sun is up, but it's only 22 F (-6 C) at the moment, and we will stay below freezing until tomorrow afternoon. I've been watching live television coverage of the conditions; many cars are slipping and sliding on even treated roads, and several tractor trailers have jackknifed on the major interstates. Needless to say I'll stay indoors for the rest of the weekend, cancel my planned meet up with Zoë and Mark tomorrow, as I'm still having mild back spasms and am afraid that even a mild slip on an icy sidewalk could lead to a huge setback, and not leave here until it's time to go to work Monday morning (I'll probably get up with the chickens and leave extra early to avoid the bulk of the motorists here).

Although I'm still having mild back spasms I think I'm in good enough shape to make the Mediterranean lamb & mushroom pasta for lunch. As always I'll post a photo and the recipe, and let y'all know how it turns out.

I spent way too much time online yesterday and didn't do much reading, so I'll catch up as best I can so that I can start cooking and make some progress on the books I still hope to complete this weekend.

>62 LizzieD: What's the weather like in eastern North Carolina, Peggy? Hopefully you won't experience any frozen precipitation.

>63 Berly: Excellent, Kim! I'll start making the lamb pasta in the next hour or two.

>64 SandDune: I think we could handle half an inch of snow, but what we have is 1/8 to 1/4 inch of ice, which is infinitely worse. Earlier this morning I and one of my friends at work, who is an ER physician from Minnesota, convinced one of my partners (actually one of our neurohospitalists, who work alongside me and the other pediatric hospitalists) who worked last night to stay in the hospital during the day today and not try to drive home, as she has to work again tonight. My partner who is one of our nocturnists, the hospitalists who work the night shift, has also announced that she'll stay there as well.

Several of my closest nurse friends from PCA 3 also had a slumber party in the hospital last night:

>65 msf59: Given the current weather here, and presumably in Chicago, you may be slipping (on ice) and suffering brain freeze simultaneously, Mark. I hope that you have a good weekend as well.

>66 tymfos: Ah. I don't know Deedledee at all, so it was surprising to see that message from her. I admittedly do take offense to comments like "you Southerners", "you Americans", etc. that label a group of people, especially when it comes from someone I don't know at all. It reminds me of comments directed towards African Americans or other groups by some of our fellow Americans ("you black people", "you Mexicans", "you gay people", or worse), and I suspect that many members of minority groups also bristle when they read or hear similar statements. A couple of years ago when I was in London I was considering a trip to, I think, Manchester, to meet up with Zoë and other LTers. It would have been a journey of roughly two hours each way by train, which I was very willing to do. An LTer I didn't know jumped in and made a smarmy comment about Americans being the only ones who would consider a trip of that distance to be reasonable, and I was so turned off by her attitude that I lost all interest in going there.

>67 lunacat: That still sounds bad, Jenny!

I'm still having some mild spasms, but nowhere near as bad as they were on Tuesday or Friday. That reminds me, I should take two naprosyn tablets before I start making the lamb pasta.

I see no reason why anyone couldn't make that recipe, especially now that I just looked at it more closely. I'll wait until 11 am, a little more than an hour from now, to start making it, as that will give me time for the naprosyn to take effect, and for me to call my parents and give them an update about the conditions here.

We had about 3 inches of snow in my neighborhood. My road hasn't been plowed, and the tire tracks from the few cars that have been on the road today are icy and slick. There's no ice under the snow, though, and plenty of snow to walk on. Still, a good day to stay indoors. I would rather have snow than ice any day, and I'm sorry your area ended up with more ice than snow.

Nothing but a bit of ice on the roof here in NC's coastal plain. I doubt there's any risk for driving - even on bridges and overpasses. Of course, we might get a flurry or two before the system moves out, but nothing yet. On the other hand, it's COLD!!!!!
(Darryl, you know I'm mostly living with my mother right now. She did a compression fracture in October, and while she's not in pain while she sits and is very steady on her feet, she can't stand for more than about 10 minutes at the time. That's up from last month. I will start pushing for some PT Monday. She's 95, has truly bad osteoporosis, but is in control of all her faculties. I think she won't drive again, but we are hopeful that the PT might do some good. Anyway, she's really missing the pool and her water aerobics classes.) SO - take care of the back and be careful out there!

So how is today, Darry? Our relatives in eastern Tennessee had 6 1/2 inches of snow - so bizarre.

>71 cbl_tn: Thanks, Carrie. I'm glad that you have mostly snow in eastern Tennessee. It's bright and sunny here, but it's still well below freezing and many the roads remain icy and treacherous.

>72 LizzieD: I'm glad that your weather is better than ours, Peggy, and I hope it remains that way. I just finished talking to my mother, who lives with my father just north of Philadelphia, and they are expecting 1-3 inches of snow, which is, of course, no big deal for them.

>73 jnwelch: It's a beautifully sunny early afternoon in Atlanta, Joe, but the temperature at noon has only climbed to 26 F, with a wind chill factor of 15 F, and the sidewalks, surface streets and interstates in metro Atlanta remain dangerously icy. I'm watching the noon coverage on WSB, the local ABC affiliate and, I think, the oldest television station in the Deep South, which is showing icy overpasses, skidding and stranded cars, and a home in Northwest Atlanta that was severely damaged by a tree that fell on it.

It all sounds like a wise idea to stay indoors Darryl! Having to be careful on ice is certainly not going to do your back any good. I hope there haven't been any serious accidents, and that it has cleared by Monday.

The lamb recipe definitely looks easy enough even for me. I'm looking forward to making it. Currently we've got bread proving, ready for homemade bread with onion soup this evening.

>75 lunacat: Exactly, Jenny. I would be foolish to try to go outside today, and the same will likely hold true tomorrow as well.

There have been some accidents with injuries, according to WSB TV, and the biggest problems are the overpasses, which remain icy and, in some spots, impassable. This includes the 17th Street exit from the Downtown Connector, the huge north-south interstate that cuts through the heart of the city, which is the one I often take if when I drive home from the hospital. It was closed due to icing early this morning, re-opened a few hours ago, and is now closed again after an accident on the overpass.

I'm about to start making the lamb pasta, as it's nearly 12:30 pm here, so I'll post a photo and the recipe in about an hour. Homemade bread with onion soup also sounds yummy!

The One Pot Mediterranean Lamb & Mushroom Pasta is ready!



Ingredients:

2 tbsp olive oil
1 lb ground lamb
1 cup baby bella (cremini) mushrooms (diced)
1 cup onion (diced)
3 cloves garlic (minced)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
¼ tsp ground cloves
½ tsp ground oregano
½ cup red wine
2 cups diced roma tomatoes
8 oz can tomato sauce
2 cups macaroni noodles
2 cups chicken broth
¼ cup Parmesan cheese (grated)

Instructions:

Add the olive oil to a large pot or dutch oven over medium high heat.

Add the ground lamb, mushrooms and onion. Cook for 8-10 minutes, then add the garlic.

Cook for 1-2 minutes, then drain any grease from the pot.

Add the cinnamon, cayenne pepper, ground cloves and oregano. Pour the red wine, diced tomatoes and tomato sauce into the pot.

Stir and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the noodles and chicken broth.

Reduce the heat to low, cover and cook for 25-30 minutes, or until the noodles are tender and the liquid has cooked down.

Top with the grated Parmesan cheese and serve.
_________________________________________________________

I had to make a few minor substitutions, based on what I had on hand: I used two shallots instead of a cup of onion, penne rigate in place of macaroni, and a mixture of hand diced San Marzano peeled tomatoes and Ro-Tel diced tomatoes with habañeros instead of diced Roma tomatoes. I also used closer to 3 cups of pasta instead of the two called for in the recipe, so that I would use up the amount I had left over in my already opened box and because the amount of pasta didn't seem to be enough (and I think I was right on that account). Per the photo on the recipe's web page I also added some sliced Italian parsley along with the Parmesan cheese. This tastes just as good as it looks, and I'll add it to my rotation of favorite recipes.

Please excuse me while I go back for seconds...

The lamb pasta looks good, Darryl. I'll have to try this out some time later this week. Nothing is going to induce me to go out of the house today. I'm going to make the guinness lamb stew tomorrow night in the slow cooker for Monday's dinner.

We've decided to wait until tomorrow morning when the snow should have stopped to shovel the front and use the snowblower on the driveways.

Do please rest up this weekend so your back has a chance to get better.

The pasta looks quite yummy! And looks like it has made enough that you shouldn't have to cook again for a bit!

That looks amazing. It's definitely something I'll be making this week, probably on Thursday. Enjoy.

>78 cameling: Thanks, Caroline! Like you I love lamb, and this was a perfect way to use the ground lamb I already had at home. It's quick and easy to make, and it makes at least 5-6 servings (I had two servings of it, and stored three in individual containers in my freezer, so that I wouldn't be tempted to go back for thirds).

I haven't made your Irish lamb stew in a while, but I'll probably do so in March, especially if I'm in town during St. Patrick's Day.

My next task will be to figure out what to do with the package of mixed seafood (calamari, mussels, octopus and shrimp) that I have in my freezer. I think it would go well in the right pasta recipe, but I imagine that I would need white wine as an ingredient, which I don't have. I bought it for the Peruvian seafood stew I made last year, but I don't have enough cilantro to make it again, and I wasn't in love with that recipe the first time I made it.

Good idea to stay inside this weekend. A dear friend and former partner of mine is now living in Provincetown after he retired (lucky dog), and he said that they are expecting up to a foot of snow this weekend.

I didn't have problems standing and cooking the pasta, but I'm still having mild spasms, so I'll lie back down in bed shortly.

>79 ChelleBearss: The pasta is very tasty, Chelle! I see no reason why ground beef (or turkey) couldn't be substituted for lamb, although I'm far more fond of the taste of the latter than the former.

I now have 14 containers of prepared food, 13 in my freezer and one serving of fettuccine Alfredo in my refrigerator. Assuming that I use two containers of food per day I'm covered through dinner next Saturday, as I also have a container of soup in the freezer in the office where I work. I still may make something tomorrow, though, especially if I find a recipe as good as the lamb & mushroom pasta was.

>80 lunacat: Thanks, Jenny. That recipe is amazing and simple to make, and I'm thrilled that I found it.

I look forward to seeing your version of it, and finding out how well you and your boyfriend like it.

>81 kidzdoc: you are very prepared! For frozen prepared food we always have a turkey taco soup on hand, which is basically a turkey chilli. It's our go-to for work lunches.
I need to start finding some freezer meal recipes to prepared for before the baby comes. I thought I was prepared for Chloe and found we could have used double what we had frozen.

>81 kidzdoc: Just this morning I saw a good recipe for an Italian Seafood Soup. Let me see if I can find it for you.

Here you go. Might have a few more items than you have on hand, but you're good at "doctoring it up."


Sicilian Seafood Soup With Couscous

Yield: Serves 4 - 6Prep Time: 20 minsCook Time: 50 mins

Ingredients:
1/3 Cup Olive Oil
1 Celery Stalk, Finely Chopped
1 Medium Onion, Finely Chopped
1 Carrot, Finely Chopped
1 Cup White Wine
3 Tablespoons Tomato Paste
2 Medium Ripe Tomatoes, Cored, Seeded, & Finely Chopped
2 Garlic Cloves, Minced
1 Zucchini, Halved Lengthwise And Cut Into 1/4 Inch Slices
4 Cups Seafood Stock
1/4 Teaspoon Saffron Threads
2 Tablespoons Finely Chopped Fresh Parsley Leaves
Red Chili Pepper, Finely Minced
Sea Salt & Black Pepper To Taste
8 Ounces Swordfish, Cut Into 1 Inch Cubes
8 Ounces Small Shrimp (Peeled)
1 Pound Cleaned Mussels
1 Pounds Cleaned Calamari, Cut Into 1/2 Inch Rings
1 Pound Small Clams
To Serve:
2 Tablespoons Chopped Fresh Parsley
6 Cups Cooked Couscous (Cook Following Package Directions)

Directions:
In a large stockpot, heat the oil over medium heat, then cook the celery, onion, and carrot until softened, about 10 minutes.
Add the wine, and cook over high heat until the wine has reduced by half, about 7 minutes.
Add the tomato paste, tomatoes, garlic, and zucchini, and cook for 4 to 5 minutes until the tomatoes have broken down.
Pour in the stock, saffron, parsley, chili pepper, salt and pepper, and bring to a boil.
Reduce the heat to a simmer, then add the seafood in the order it is listed, cover the pan and let cook through for about 10 minutes, shaking the pan from time to time.
Spoon the couscous into individual bowls, then ladle the hot soup on top.
Serve immediately.

Recipe from Saveur magazine

The lamb pasta looks good. I'd probably leave out the mushrooms if I made it. Just not my favorite thing. (I can eat them. Jeff doesn't want to eat "fungus" at all.)

I was thinking more of a seafood paella...

>69 kidzdoc: you guys have so much fun at work! I think it is great, and a good way to counter the not so great stuff and the pressure you have to put up with. It should be encouraged :)

>77 kidzdoc: if it has "one pot" in the recipe title, I'm in!!!

Edited to add: from #247 last thread....Fluff was a common household item in many homes in New England and the Northeast from the mid 1960s to early 1970s, and it was used to make Fluffernutter sandwiches, which combined marshmallow Fluff and peanut butter on white bread. I loved those sandwiches as a kid, but you couldn't make me eat one now.
Wow, marshmallow sandwich spread!!!????? Just. Wow.

>83 ChelleBearss: Thanks, Chelle. Last year I started to pin recipes to my Pinterest account, and I have three food related boards, one for Favorite Recipes, another for Interesting Recipes that I want to try but haven't made yet, and a third that is simply titled Recipes, which I share with a former pediatric resident and fellow foodie. Practically all of the foods I make are amenable to storage in the freeezer in individual microwaveable containers, which I learned from my father, who also makes soups, stews, homemade meat pastas, and other dishes that can be stored in the freezer. Many of my close nurse friends, particularly Beth, who is sitting on the bed in the middle of the photo in >69 kidzdoc:, do the same thing, as they also cook on their days off, bring food to work, and keep it at home for their husbands and kids to have for dinner when they are working, as they don't get home until 9 pm or later.

ETA: Although it may seem as though I'm well stocked with prepared foods, the 14 containers I currently have are roughly half of the number that I normally have in my freezer after a weekend's worth of cooking.

>84 Cariola:, >85 Cariola: That looks great, Deborah! Unfortunately I don't have many of the ingredients I have at home, as I haven't gone grocery shopping for over two weeks, but I will save that recipe to my Interesting Recipes board on Pinterest for future use.

I've all but completely decided to make artichoke and mushroom pasta tomorrow, as I have a container of shiitake mushrooms in my refrigerator, two cans of artichoke hearts in a kitchen cabinet, and several boxes of uncooked pasta. I did another Google search and found a recipe for Artichoke and Mushroom Pasta which looks good. I have everything I need for it except for a lemon, and I think I have enough asiago cheese in my refrigerator.

>86 thornton37814: Thanks, Lori. I think the lamb pasta would taste fine without mushrooms, although I'm very fond of them in this recipe, and in general.

>87 Morphidae: Seafood paella would be great, but I don't have the ingrdeients or the pan to make it in. I also think I would be much better off having it in a restaurant that specializes in Spanish cuisine, such as Barcelona Wine Bar, which has two Intown locations in Atlanta and is one of my favorite places to dine here. I usually get their paella valenciana (chicken and sausage paella) or paella de marisco (seafood paella) when I go there with friends.

>88 LovingLit: I agree, Megan. The nurses on the different patient care areas work together closely, as the cover each other's patients when they take lunch breaks and share responsibilities for all the patients on their units. Most of them are close friends outside of work as well, far more than we physicians are with our colleagues.

This truly was a one pot recipe, cooked in the cast iron Dutch oven seen in my photo, as I didn't use any other pots or pans. I seem to recall a one pot (Wonderpot) recipe for artichoke and mushroom pasta in Budget Bytes, but I think it also calls for spinach, which I don't have in my refrigerator.

Marshmallow (sandwich) spread is real. I think supermarkets in the US still sell Fluff, although I don't think many parents make Fluffernutter sandwiches for their kids anymore.

Practically all of the foods I make are amenable to storage in the freeezer in individual microwaveable containers, which I learned from my father ... Smart father! I cook this way, too, Daryl. I am depleted of energy after my work day and, rather than coming home and needing to cook every night, I cook weekends ... usually a couple of one-dish meals, some kind of roast meat, a brown rice/quinoa and a couple of vegetables/salad, and then I mix/match all week for dinner and lunches. This works for me, and I eat much better this way than when I relied on myself to cook every night.

Wow, snow in Atlanta! We're going through a very dry spell the second year in a row, 8 weeks no rain, no snow, sun and clear blue sky every day and it will remain like that for at least two more weeks. Snow or at least rain was promised for last Thursday, but it was so extremely windy that it stopped 60km north from us.
This sounds nice on the paper, but the air as a consequence is dusty and dirty, everyone is ill, the rivers are extremely low and the ski areas take the water from the valleys for their snow cannons! We've always had constant highs in the winter months, but after a wet November. Guess we'll get that snow in early spring again.

The recipes sound good, when I still ate meat I loved lamb ragout with pasta. You could make spaghetti allo scoglio with the seafood. You'd need peperoncino (a chili pepper), garlic and parsley, no cheese. I guess the white wine could be omitted and you could use some broth instead.

Happy Sunday and I hope your back will improve.

Had it for dinner tonight and it is GONE!! Everyone gave it a thumbs up and said to put it on the list for "Make It Again!" I also used three cups of pasta instead of two and I added more mushrooms because I like them. Yum! Thanks Darryl.

>92 Deern: Hi, Nathalie! Snow isn't common in Atlanta, but it isn't unheard of, either. I would say that the city receives accumulating snowfalls every 1-3 years, usually in January. It begins to warm up here in mid to late February, and by mid to late March spring is well underway.

Thanks for the suggestion of using the mixed seafood I have in spaghetti allo scoglio. I just found a recipe for it that fits well, as it calls for frozen mixed seafood. I'll give it a try sometime next week.

http://www.e-rcps.com/pasta/rcp/p_stuv/scoglio_2.shtml

I hope that your weather improves soon.

>93 Berly: Your lamb pasta looks great, Kim! I'm glad that your family enjoyed it. Jim also made it yesterday, and he liked it as well.

Sigh. There was no ground lamb at my supermarket. Yes I could have made it with beef but I wanted the real deal. I'm glad to see it's a winner; I will make it someday.

>95 lauralkeet: Rats. I'm sorry that you weren't able to find ground lamb locally, Laura. Do you have any specialty meat stores in your area?

Everyone knows how to make a cheese omelet, but I just tried a new recipe that I loved and thought that I would share it with you. It's by the British celebrity chef Jamie Oliver, and he calls it a silky omelet. What's different about this recipe, at least for me, is that it's cooked on medium high heat for only a few seconds in a large nonstick frying pan, as the beaten egg is swirled around the pan, the cheese is added on top, and the omelet is taken almost immediately off the heat and folded over multiple times. This produces multiple layers of thin egg with cheese between those layers. I used grated four cheese Mexican blend from Publix, and topped the egg with chives and a few spritzes of hot sauce. It was moist, delicate, and tasted great, and I'll make cheese omelets this way from now on.



Here's the recipe, via YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIBlZZJGzPM

^ That looks very tasty!
Even I might be able to make it ;-)

>98 FAMeulstee: You can definitely make this, Anita! That was my first attempt to make it, as I watched the video minutes before I cooked it. This is a case where a very simple recipe makes an excellent product.

ETA: I could probably list the ingredients and instructions, but watching the video makes much more sense.

Morning, Darryl!

I love your cooking/freezing methods - so organized and efficient! We sort of follow that principle, although things don't make it to the freezer. With three of us, we just eat the leftovers until they're gone from the fridge, and I try to alternate days of making something fresh, having leftovers, making something else fresh, having leftovers from both batches... Wednesday evenings we almost always do a short-order cook breakfast type dinner, and between that and leftovers and the occasional Spaghetti Night, I generally only have to plan on making 2 meals per week. I'm wondering how long that will last, though, until Charlie hits that stage where he'll be eating us out of the house and there will never be leftovers to be relied upon...

>100 scaifea: Good morning, Amber! As a single guy it's much easier on me to cook than it is for a mother or father of a family, as two cooked meals will typically last me for a week (most of the things I make produce six or more servings). The basis of my cooking plans comes from my father, and I've been slowly building and expanding my repertoire, one new recipe at a time.

Your method of cooking sounds excellent as well, particularly if you're only cooking two meals a week. If I was going through food as quickly as your family does I would be less likely to freeze food...although, now that I think about it, I still would, as I bring lunch to work, often on the metro, and using microwaveable individual containers with frozen food minimizes the possibility of spillage on the train or shuttle bus I take from the metro station to the hospital, and prevents odors from food from bothering other passengers. So, oddly enough, my freezer tends to be full, whereas my refrigerator is relatively empty.

Unfortunately I didn't do as much cooking this week as I had planned to, and since I did hardly any cooking for myself the past several weeks (not counting the New Orleans chili I made on Christmas Eve, which was meant for the nurses) I'll have to do quite a bit of cooking the next two or three weekends to get back to where I was. In your case, once Charlie gets older, would it be easier to keep your freezer well stocked with prepared foods, to avoid running out and having to cook more often or more frequently? For that matter, could he learn how to cook some basic things himself when he gets older, to avoid raiding the fridge and depleting the foods that you plan to have for dinners? When I was in high school, particularly after school when we were hungry and wanted something to eat immediately, I often made sandwiches or simple pastas as mid afternoon snacks, which satisfied me and meant that I wasn't tempted to eat whatever we were planning to eat for dinner that night.

>97 kidzdoc: Thanks for the video link. That looks super-easy - I may try it tomorrow.

>101 kidzdoc: I like the idea of keeping the freezer stocked for when Charlie hits those ravenous teen years. And as for cooking himself, he's already learned to cook a handful of recipes (with a bit of supervision, of course), and he loves to cook and bake with me, so I think he'll do okay. I like the idea that we'll be sending him off to college or wherever he goes with basic living skills (he helps me with the laundry and the cleaning, too, and helps Tomm with household repairs).

This thread is excellent - food and snow are two of my favourite things.

My husband is currently making an Indian shepherd's pie (from this recipe by Anjum Anand - http://goodfood.uktv.co.uk/recipe/indian-shepherds-pie/) and the weather forecast is for a cold snap affecting most of the UK this week. Snow is forecast for Scotland, northern England, and possibly high ground in Wales and south-western England. Of course, we're in SW England... fingers crossed!

I mentioned on the Kitchen thread that I made the lamb pasta too. It turned out really well and was a big hit!

I spent Friday and Saturday hunkered in my house. Wee got 2 inches of freezing rain and snow mix in Tuscaloosa that froze solid on Friday night when the temperatures fell. I stayed in all day Saturday and baked. I did two fruit cakes. I tried to get fancy and instead of baking the second one in a loaf pan I tried to do it in a bundt pan. That didn't work to well and I tried to get it out of the pan to soon. That caused it to break. It tastes great. I had a piece with my coffee this morning, but the second one doesn't look very nice.

I had plans to make pizza rolls (like cinnamon rolls only with cheese and pepperoni) but ran out of flour. I had to wait until I was sure that the roads were melting so went to the grocery store late yesterday afternoon. They opened at 2:00 p.m. and the clerk told me that they had lots of college students in who were purchasing cookies in the tubes to bake. I think my idea of baking was more ambitious than theirs. I also went to the liquor store to replenish my stock of rum. Maybe I will try to do that fruit cake again.

Today I will do a new beer bread recipe and will make pizza rolls.

Hi Darryl! I have finally managed to make my way over to wish you a rather belated Happy New Year! Love the "NO Fluff" zone, even if it is a bit of a challenge to keep it fluff-free. ;-) More or less skim-read my way through the first thread and then discovered that the second thread already had over 100 posts. YIKES! Sorry to learn that you have been having back problems, but happily, the "Great Atlantic Snowfall of 2017" was a bust.

Continue to enjoy all the great food posts here..... YUM!

>105 drneutron: - Can I please have a link to that kitchen thread so I can star it? Thanks!

Darryl - now that's a tasty looking omelette. I see from the video that it's similar to the omelettes I've had in Tokyo. They're more like egg crepes folded over multiple times with oozy cheese inside.

I've just received a copy of Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi and the recipes in there are not only doable by a home cook but also pretty interesting. I think I'm going to go vegetarian once a week this year.

Loving the various cooking photos.

>109 cameling: Caro - maybe we can post some pics from our dinner tonight!

>97 kidzdoc: That was a large non-stick frying pan which is why he was able to get it thin enough to do it that way. (I watched the video.) I might give it a try some time although I really like my regular omelets too.

>102 ffortsa: You're welcome, Judy. Do let us know how your silky omelet turns out.

>103 scaifea: Well done on raising Charlie to be self-sufficient, Amber! I think all kids, regardless of gender, should learn basic skills like the ones you described, and of course there should be no gender differences in who learns which skills.

>104 pokarekareana: Hi, Jen! Thanks for posting that Indian shepherd's pie recipe; it looks delightful. I'll pin it to my Interesting Recipes board on Pinterest, and try making it in the next month or two.

Wow...possible snow in the southwest of England?! I hope that you get only snow, and not freezing rain with ice formation as we did in Atlanta this weekend.

>105 drneutron: I did see that, Jim, and I'm glad that you also liked the lamb pasta. I hope you'll post some of your favorite recipes in The Kitchen as well, as I think our tastes are very similar.

>106 benitastrnad: It sounds like you had a very productive cooking weekend, Benita. I didn't go out today, but I understand that the roads were in much better shape this morning than they were yesterday, and hopefully conditions will be nearly back to normal tomorrow morning, both there and here.

I didn't make the artichoke & mushroom pasta as I had intended to do, as I realized that I had less than half of the mushrooms I needed for it. I now have enough food to last until next weekend, so I didn't feel a need to venture to Publix today. My local Publix is normally a madhouse on Sundays, and it was probably even worse than usual today, assuming that most people didn't go grocery shopping on Saturday.

>107 lkernagh: Happy New Year, Lori! It's good to see you here. My back is much better today, although I continue to have brief intermittent spasms. Tomorrow will be the test, as I'm on long call (10 am to 10 pm) again. Fortunately I'm the attending physician on the teaching service with the residents and medical students, and if the senior resident is the same one that was on service last week it should be a relatively good week for the team, as she is outstanding.

I've done more cooking than reading this week, and I still haven't finished a book since New Year's Day, even though I've been off from work since Tuesday night. I still hope to finish A Question of Power by Bessie Head tonight, but it's been a bit of a slog so far. I'll get back to it after I finish catching up here, and hopefully I can finish it by 10-11 pm.

Your thread remains a place for certain salivation, Darryl.

>69 kidzdoc: The slumber ladies look a very pleasant and attractive lot, I must say.

>108 jessibud2: Here you go, Shelley: https://www.librarything.com/topic/243785

There is also a hyperlink to The Kitchen in the 75ers' Wiki.

BTW, Club Read has a similar thread, titled La Cucina: http://www.librarything.com/topic/243300

>109 cameling: They're more like egg crepes folded over multiple times with oozy cheese inside.

That's a perfect description of Jamie Oliver's silky omelet, Caroline. I was trying to describe it to my father when we talked by phone earlier this afternoon, and I was struggling to explain it to him.

Thanks for the reminder about Plenty. I also own a copy of it, and I keep meaning to look for recipes in it, and in the cookbook I bought by the Lebanese-American writer Maureen Abood last year, Rose Water and Orange Blossoms: Fresh & Classic Recipes from my Lebanese Kitchen. Bianca, Caroline and I had dinner at the Ottolenghi restaurant in Islington in 2015, along with one of my work partners, whose sister lives in that North London neighborhood, before we saw a play at the nearby Almeida Theatre. I loved what I had, although Bianca didn't like it nearly as much as I did.

I think I'm going to go vegetarian once a week this year.

Good idea. Thanks to the influence of Bianca, Caroline and Claire, along with Debbi & Joe, I'm now eating far less red meat that I have in the past, and making more vegetarian recipes. Claire shared four of her favorite recipes with me; I've made two of them, and I need to give the other two a try soon.

>110 michigantrumpet: Thanks, Marianne!

>111 thornton37814: The frying pan I used to make the omelet this morning is made by T-Fal, and other than the handle I noticed afterwards that it was exactly identical to the one that Jamie Oliver used in that YouTube video, including the red label in the middle of the pan. I just looked online, and found out that the same cookware is sold in the UK and Ireland under the name Tefal (http://www.tefal.co.uk/), and there is a line of pots and pans sold by this company that has Jamie Oliver's name attached to them (http://www.tefal.co.uk/Cookware-%26-Kitchenware/Jamie-Oliver/c/Jamie%20Oliver). I purchased a set of six T-Fal pots and pans from Amazon four or five years ago when I first started cooking, and they are what I use to cook almost everything I make on the stove top. Let's see...yep; I bought the 12 piece set in May 2013, which consists of four pots, two pans, four lids, and a spoon and spatula, and they are still holding up nicely, even though it's obvious they have seen a lot of use.

T-Fal E765SC Ultimate Hard Anodized Scratch Resistant Titanium Nonstick Thermo-Spot Heat Indicator Anti-Warp Base Dishwasher Safe Oven Safe PFOA Free Cookware Set, 12-Piece, Gray

>96 kidzdoc: Do you have any specialty meat stores in your area?
We have specialty supermarkets like Wegman's and Trader Joe's, where I'm sure I could find lamb. It's just they are far away -- like 40 min by car -- so it's not an option for a spur of the moment "I wanna make lamb pasta" kind of thing. If I got my act together I could hit one of those stores specifically to stock up on "specialty" items, especially if they can be frozen.

Then again, maybe we need to move somewhere with a decent supermarket. That's in my longer-term plans ...

>115 kidzdoc: - Thanks, Darryl. I found it and dropped a star. Now, all I need to do is cook! :-)

I have a copy of Plenty and I can tell you that there isn't a bad recipe in it. At least not that I have found. There are some ingredients that I have trouble finding from time-to-time, but I have had good luck with substitutions. I really like his recipes and want to add Jerusalem to my cookbook collection as well.

>114 PaulCranswick: Thanks, Paul. Hopefully there will be more book related topics to accompany the culinary discussions in the near future.

That "very pleasant and attractive lot" of nurses in that photo are not unusual for Children's, I must say. PCA (patient care area) 2, the second floor of the hospital, have several strikingly appealing nurses as well. However, cuteness does not equal competence or niceness necessarily, but the PCA 3 nurses in that photo are all excellent health care providers and trustworthy colleagues who I trust implicitly to provide the best care to the kids who are under our care. A lot of our patients, especially on PCA 3, are very sick, and require close monitoring and careful observation to look for signs of clinical deterioration, especially the babies who are seriously ill with bronchiolitis. Anyone with half a brain or less can see when a baby is critically ill and needs to be sent to the PICU (Pediatric Intensive Care Unit); what's far more important is for a nurse or physician to be able to recognize the early signs that a baby is getting into trouble, and to take action to prevent them from getting worse. Kids, especially babies, are very resilient, and can compensate effectively when they first develop cardiorespiratory distress, especially in comparison to adults. However, as we were taught in our training, when kids crash they crash hard, and when they develop cardiorespiratory failure or, more worryingly, cardiac or respiratory collapse, it can be very difficult to resuscitate them, even with the best staff and the appropriate equipment. We physicians can't be at the bedside of every seriously ill child at the same time, and we rely heavily on the nurses to keep us abreast of kids that are getting into trouble, and making appropriate suggestions and recommendations to stabilize or improve their conditions. If I was a sick hospitalized patient I would rather have an outstanding nurse and a lousy physician than a lousy nurse and an outstanding physician.

>116 lauralkeet: Yikes. A 40 minute drive is far too long to pick up ground lamb! My local Publix supermarket is less than a 5 minute drive by car, as is the Kroger just down the street from it, and the Trader Joe's on the opposite side of Piedmont Park (the park that appears in the opening photo of this thread); Whole Foods and Ponce City Market are slightly further away, but no more than 10 minutes away from home.

>117 jessibud2: Sounds good, Shelley.

>118 benitastrnad: I'm glad that you're so fond of Plenty, Benita. I have two of Yotam Ottolenghi's cookbooks, that one and Ottolenghi, and I saw Jerusalem last year in London, but I didn't look through it at the time.

I have Jerusalem and Plenty More by Yotam Ottolenghi= With the recipes in Plenty More you need a chopping assistant- but the salads are amazing!
I have made a number of dishes from Jerusalem and like it very much.

>121 torontoc: I'm glad that you've liked the recipes in Yotam Ottolenghi's cookbooks, Cyrel. I'll start looking through his books next weekend.

I sped through the second half of A Question of Power by Bessie Head so that I could be done with it, as I found it to be a seemingly interminable slog despite being only 200 pages in length. I've given it 2.5 stars, and I'll write a brief review of it later today or tomorrow.

LOL - you make being stuck at the hospital look fun, but I'm glad your Snowmageddon was a bit on the wimpy side... although ice... ick. Almost worse, from a Minnesotan point of view! But I'm bitter today because it took me 1 hr 15 minutes to get to my dog school where I assistant teach, when it should've take 20 minutes.

Your lamb & mushrooms looks good, and easy! & enjoy Wole Soyinka - I read Ake years ago, and remember absolutely being blown away by him.

Deedledee's message appears to be an innocent thread comment comparing what SNOW means to U.S. Southerners

with what falls in Nova Scotia.

It might be good to check Intent first rather than slamming a stranger for not knowing your personal history, non?

>124 m.belljackson: Yeah - I was going to make the opposite comment, back when the original post was made - I'm in Northern California, where we are getting massive amounts of rain. It's awful, annoying, a pain to drive or walk in - and I'll take it over the snow we used to get in Virginia, let alone what my sister got in Buffalo, NY. I've driven on black ice in Washington DC - it's doable (particularly when the idiot SUVs are off the road...one way or another) but not a pleasant experience.

I'm finally beginning to make the rounds of the threads - a busy few days right after the New Year followed by a really nasty cold/flu/virus thing. I was low-energy and coughing one day, flat on my back for two more with 100.7 temperature, and (after a visit to the doctor to confirm I wasn't incubating pneumonia or bronchitis) much better now - which is to say upright and doing chores, though still coughing hard and dosing myself with various stuff (Mucinex, sudafed, ibuprofen for the swelling, and nasal spray - my doctor found the main problem wasn't in my lungs, despite rales in the morning, but in my sinuses). But I have almost normal energy...well, OK, not normal, but not the flat-out nothing I had for two days. And with the weather outside - varying from heavy drizzle to momentary waterfalls - I'm not going out if I don't have to.

Oh, right - hats. I wear hats pretty much every day. Usually broad-brimmed ones...I don't know the proper terms. Not a fedora, I don't think - 3-5 inch brim, with either a pinched or a flat top. Though recently, when it's not raining, I've been wearing an Irish walking hat - narrow brim, pinched top, wool tweed. Very warm and comfortable, but not much protection against rain. For that I wear another Irish hat, flat-topped and wide-brimmed, made of waxed cotton - it's completely waterproof and great protection against flying water. I have a picture of me in it, but it's such a closeup you can't really see the hat.

I do love all the talk in your thread, Darryl, but it's hard to keep up with!

>124 m.belljackson: Poking fun at someone else isn't exactly "innocent", even if it was meant to be playful rather than hurtful. I wouldn't recommend it for your first interaction with a stranger.

I think we have all written things that come out harsher than we intend. I doubt deedledee will be back to trouble Darryl any more. She apologized in >56 Deedledee: and yet the conversation goes on.

Darryl - have you read anything by this month's AAC author Olivia Octavia Butler? I know you don't read SFF, and actually I don't read much either. But she's an icon in the field, and might fit in as another face for your African diaspora reading. The Charlie Rose interviews on Youtube are quite interesting.

Edited: Whoops, typo there. My fingers go faster than my brain.

Ignoring the nonsensical (and pointless, given anyone who knows you knows that you are a wonderful and mild mannered man Darryl, who doesn't deserve any form of attack on your own thread) and saying I hope being back at work hasn't caused your bad back too many problems, and that this period of shifts has less admittances than your last block of work did! Take care of yourself.

Darryl, perhaps you should re-name your thread the "No Drama Zone" ;-)

I echo Jenny's message and hope work has settled down a bit for you. Take care!

And how were the roads into work?

Suzanne and I are working out the details for the ALA Mid-Winter conference in Atlanta. I thought I would post some updates here.

LT is NOT going to be offering the free passes to the conference. They are not going to have a booth in the exhibits so they can't offer passes. That would mean that you would have to pay for a day pass. I believe the cost for that is $60.00. In the past that is a one-time cost. You can use the pass on multiple days. To get the pass you have to go to the main registration desk. The exhibit area opens at 5:30 p.m. on Friday night and will close at 7:30 p.m. It is open from 9 to 5 Saturday and Sunday, and on Monday from 9 to noon.

I have hopes that I will get to meet with you sometime on Sunday, but if we can't work it out, we can't. I will be in Atlanta at other times.

>131 Morphidae: *snork!*

Hi, Darryl!

>131 Morphidae: - Awwww. That llama looks pretty fluffy to me...;-)

Whoa. There has certainly been a lot of drama in this thread since I last checked in! I found the two posts from the troll amusing, in a pathetic sort of way. This person seems to be just a bit unhinged, so I've blocked her, and won't respond directly or indirectly to any of her comments, either privately or publicly, now or in the future.

>123 cammykitty: Right, Katie. As I mentioned in >69 kidzdoc:, Beth, one of my dearest friends at Children's and one of our top ER physicians, is also from Minnesota, and she didn't feel comfortable driving on Saturday morning after she saw the numerous accidents and terrible road conditions in Atlanta, including Midtown, where we both live. Many of us from outside of the Deep South are comfortable driving on roads with significant amounts of snow, but at least some of us who have lived in Atlanta for years are also smart enough to know when it isn't safe to drive here.

Sadly, there was at least one terrible accident in Atlanta this past weekend; a vehicle crashed after skidding on a icy road early Sunday morning, and three of its occupants were killed.

Sorry to hear about your painfully long journey. Is the Upper Midwest experiencing the same warm up that we are in the Deep South? Saturday's high temperature in Atlanta was only 29 F, and it got down to at least 16 F, if not lower, on Sunday, but today's high temperature was 66 degrees, and we'll be in the lower 70s by Friday.

The lamb and mushroom pasta was delicious! I'd highly recommend that recipe, and it looks as though Jim and Kim enjoyed it as much as I did.

I own but haven't yet read Ake: The Years of Childhood, so thanks for the reminder! I'll add it to my list of books from the African diaspora to read in the near future.

>125 jjmcgaffey: I've driven on black ice as well, Jennifer, including on steep icy roads when I lived in Pittsburgh. The 'Burgh in spots is nearly as hilly as San Francisco is, and the steepest street in the United States is located there (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canton_Avenue). Pitt's medical school is located near the top of Cardiac Hill, which is similar to, if not steeper than, Powell Street in San Francisco's Nob Hill as you approach California Avenue from the south, and the student parking garage was even higher up the hill than Scaife Hall, the medical school building, was. Pittsburgh drivers are used to driving in these conditions, unlike Atlanta drivers, and it's one thing to drive alongside competent drivers, and another when you're surrounded by dangerous ones who aren't experienced in driving in inclement winter weather.

I'm sorry to hear about your horrid URI, but I'm glad that you're feeling better. This has been a particularly bad RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) season for us, which my pediatrician colleagues in other parts of the country have seen as well. The babies and young toddlers infected with this virus are far sicker than they usually are, and we are routinely having to transfer them to our PICU (pediatric intensive care unit) due to respiratory failure. Some of the ones I've cared for the past couple of months have required prolonged PICU stays and needed endotracheal intubation and mechanical ventilation to keep them alive during the worst portions of their illness, including a baby that I sent to the PICU yesterday. It's possible that you and other LT friends who have gotten particularly ill this month have contracted RSV, or one of the other virulent pathogens that we've been seeing at Children's, such as human metapneumovirus (HMPV), coronavirus, adenovirus, or, lately, influenza virus.

There are a couple of pictures of you wearing a hat similar to your description in the LibraryThing Gatherings and Meetups Thread, when you, me, Shelley and Zoë met in Berkeley for our bookshop crawl and dinner. I think this photo of Shelley, me and you was taken by Zoë at University Press Books:

>126 _Zoe_: I agree completely, Zoë. I would have found that comment amusing from an LTer I knew well, but coming from a complete stranger it was off putting and weird.

>127 streamsong: Right, Janet. Deedledee said that her comment wasn't meant to be offensive, and I apologized for taking offense to it, so I thought we had put the matter to rest in a relatively civilized and amiable fashion.

I haven't read anything by Octavia Butler yet. I think i own the e-book version of Kindred, although it isn't in my LT library. I would like to read something by her in the near future, but I won't get to anything this month. Hopefully later in the year I can do so.

>129 lunacat: Thanks, Jenny. Fortunately the rest and resumption of back exercises did the trick, as I haven't had any spasms since early Monday morning, and have been able to work the first three days of this week with no problems whatsoever. I'm on the teaching service this week, with pediatric and family practice residents, medical students, and one pharmacy student, and it's been a very enjoyable and less hectic stretch so far. We were on long call on Monday, and we had exactly half of the number of admissions (eight) as I had on my previous long call on Tuesday of last week. Being less busy means there is more time for teaching during rounds, which is something I like to do if we're not rushing to see one kid after the next.

Darryl, was it you or someone else who discussed (at some point) the book How To Be Both? The most likely candidates (you, Mark, Paul, Joe, I think) already have threads that are too long for me to start scrolling back through to find it. I ask because I was at the library today, returning an audiobook I had finished and looking for some new ones. I chose this one, as well as a few others, because reading the blurb, I was intrigued. The title rang a bell although I don't think I actually knew anything about it. It is 8 discs long and I will likely get to it by the weekend as I have a shorter one in the cd player at the moment.

>130 katiekrug: Thanks, Katie. Our census has declined significantly since this past weekend's Snowfail, and the ER is currently seeing half or less the number of patients than it was last week. January and February are traditionally far slower months for us than November and December are, and hopefully we're entering into that milder season now.

>131 Morphidae: I did drive to the hospital on Monday, and the roads were completely fine, Morphy. I took the train to work yesterday and today, and will do so again tomorrow and Friday, as I don't have to work late the rest of the week.

>132 benitastrnad: I am going to pass on trying to meet up with you and Suzanne the weekend after next, Benita. My work schedule is simply too busy for the rest of this month, and I'll need that day to do chores (cook, clean, do laundry, etc.) and to study for the upcoming Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) recertification course I have to take on the 26th. Hopefully we can meet up in Atlanta later this year. I didn't meet up with Zoë & Mark when they were here last week, so please don't take this personally.

>133 scaifea: Hi, Amber! I hope that your week is going well so far.

>134 jessibud2: I agree, Shelley.

>137 jessibud2: I own How to Be Both, Shelley, but I haven't read it yet, so I don't think the discussion of it took place on my thread.

>139 kidzdoc: - Oh, ok. Once I finish it and review it, maybe someone will chime in with opinions, as I am sure I have a recollection of seeing discussion about it though I probably just skimmed it as I don't remember if people liked it or not. No matter; I will listen to it anyhow.

>140 jessibud2: I do remember reading discussions about How to Be Both, and from what I remember most people liked it a lot. I look forward to your thoughts about it.

>136 kidzdoc: re: Octavia Butler, my favorite of hers, well, recently anyway, is Fledgling. Whichever you pick, I hope you enjoy her stuff!

>142 drneutron: Thanks for that recommendation, Jim. Kindred is the novel by Butler I've heard the most about, but after reading a synopsis of it on Amazon I think I would be more interested in reading Fledgling.

>119 kidzdoc: better to have a lousy physician and a top nurse than a fantastic physician and a lousy nurse.
Wow, that is interesting to hear. I know from my own experiences in hospital (2x caesarian sections, 2x hip surgeries and 2x foot surgeries), and my experience of visiting my mum every day in hospital for a month, that I'd be loathe to say that I'd want a poor doctor. But I have been in the care of brilliand doctors which didnt stop me being, dare i say it, mistreated by nursing staff. The worst instance of which was when i was rolled on to the site of my hip surgery to move me to a gurney for a post operative x-ray. I can't recall the pain, other than the memory of wondering if I ought to roll myself off the gurney onto the floor, as at least this would change the type of pain I was in. Yikes! That was bad.

Have you read The Vegetarian, Darryl? I bought it on my Wellington trip last October and am reading it now. It is disturbing, and disturbingly good. :)

>137 jessibud2: How to Be Both was one of my top reads the year it came out. Hope you enjoy it on audio; I read it on my kindle.

Glad to hear that your back is much better, Darryl.

>119 kidzdoc: If I was a sick hospitalized patient I would rather have an outstanding nurse and a lousy physician than a lousy nurse and an outstanding physician.

As a nurse, and former ICU nurse, that thought is greatly appreciated. I'm really happy that we are now using hospitalist and intensivist at my facility. I remember many a night that I had to hound the doctor to even call back only to be told by the patient and or patient's family how the doctor "Saved their life last night!" Imagine that! ;-)

>145 Cariola: - Thanks for that; I had a feeling it had to be decent as I remember the name and thought that if it was getting buzz here, then there must be something to recommend it! I will report back on it once I'm done.

#138
Not taking it personally. This is a working conference for me, so I have to work things in as well. I am splurging and staying downtown but I will have to pay the high parking fees at the hotel.

I do plan on making more trips to Atlanta in the future. I just have not done so in the last few years. I hear the DeKalb farmers market calling ...

#135
I recognize Jennifer! She and I met up at the ALA summer meeting in San Francisco. I think she got free books there, just as I did.

>144 LovingLit: I'd be loathe to say that I'd want a poor doctor. But I have been in the care of brilliant doctors which didn't stop me being, dare i say it, mistreated by nursing staff.

Exactly. I don't want a poor doctor either, but excellent care from the best hospital physicians and surgeons can be completely disrupted by a bad nurse, whereas excellent nurses who are dedicated advocates to their patients can far more easily compensate for a bad physician or surgeon. I've been hospitalized three times in the past 20 years, and fortunately each time I was blessed with excellent physicians, surgeons and nurses.

I have read The Vegetarian, Megan; it was one of my top five novels of 2016. My LT Early Reviewers copy of Human Acts arrived yesterday, and I'll read it next month.

>145 Cariola: I'm glad that you enjoyed How to Be Both so much, Deborah. I'll try to get to it later this year.

My back is completely normal now, as I haven't had a single spasm since Monday morning.

>146 luvamystery65: I remember many a night that I had to hound the doctor to even call back only to be told by the patient and or patient's family how the doctor "Saved their life last night!"

Right. Patients and families grossly underestimate the importance of a stellar nurse, particularly one who cares for seriously or critically ill patients. My partners and I who work with a fantastic group of nurses every day, and we recognize their importance, view them as equals, and have great respect and fondness for them. During my residency we had to cover the children's hospital (Hughes Spalding) affiliated with Grady Memorial Hospital, the public hospital system for Atlanta, and there was a stark difference between the quality and dedication of the nurses there in comparison to the children's hospital on Emory University's campus (Egleston). I hated going to Hughes Spalding, but I felt very much at home at Egleston, and the difference was almost entirely due to my relationship with the nurses. Fortunately Children's has rescued Hughes Spalding from Grady, and I understand that it's a far better place to work and receive care now.

>147 jessibud2: I look forward to your comments about How to Be Both, Shelley. I assume that you'll get to it long before I do.

>148 benitastrnad: I'm definitely interested in going to the DeKalb Farmers' Market, so I would be happy to go with you when you return to Atlanta, Benita. I'll probably visit the Buford Highway Farmers' Market when I have a stretch of days off from work in mid February.

> 151 - I came out of the library yesterday with 4 audiobooks and I am already nearly finished the first one, so with luck, I will begin How to be Both either later today or tomorrow.

Mmm...that looks good. Trader Joes has a frozen seafood blend that would work well with that recipe.....
If one does not have objections to frozen.

>152 jessibud2: Sounds good, Shelley!

>153 tangledthread: I assume that you're referring to the Sicilian Seafood Soup with Couscous that Deborah posted in >85 Cariola:. That looks fabulous, although I would rather use fresh seafood as called for in the recipe rather than the bag of frozen seafood medley that I have. I'll be off this weekend, and I may go to Whole Foods after I visit Publix tomorrow morning to see if I can find the necessary seafood for the recipe there.

yes, that's the recipe. Fresh would be better.

The lamb mushroom pasta recipe looks really good too.

>155 tangledthread: I agree. I have no problem using frozen seafood in that recipe, but I think it would be amazing with fresh ingredients.

The pasta was superb. I'll have the last of it for dinner tonight.

ETA: Actually I have two containers of the Mediterranean lamb and mushroom pasta in my freezer, so I'll still have one more serving after dinner tonight. *happy dance*

>149 kidzdoc: Human Acts calls to me, based on my reading experience of The Vegetarian...which I am very nearly finished.

>157 LovingLit: The reviews I've read of Human Acts have been very positive, so I look forward to reading it, Megan.

Mmm I am not sure that I missed the drama but I am pretty glad I did.

Not so good getting attacked on your own thread, I must say. I don't know about you but when a post is flagged and blocked I can't help myself but to have a look at the offending post to see what the fuss was about. I can see what the fuss was about. It is doubly a shame because Dee and yourself seemed to have settled things between you quite amiably.

You know Sci-fi is not my bag either but I really liked Kindred.

Have a great weekend buddy.

Happy Saturday, everyone! I'm off this weekend, and because I haven't done any significant grocery shopping since late December I went to Publix today, and bought over $250 worth of items, which is probably the most money I've spent at a supermarket at one time. My refrigerator and freezer are nearly barren, so I plan to cook two meals both today and tomorrow. Today will feature New Orleans cuisine, as I'll make Heather's chicken and Andouille sausage Creole jambalaya for lunch, which I don't think I've had in at least four months, and I'll try Emeril Lagasse's Macaroni with 4 Cheeses! recipe later this afternoon, which I'll have with asparagus and roasted new potatoes for dinner. Tomorrow I'll make another batch of Zuppa Toscana, which I also haven't had in months, and try another new recipe, Asparagus and Bacon Quiche.

On the reading front I'm a third of the way through The Assault by the Dutch author Harry Mulisch, which I'm reading for the Reading Globally Benelux Countries challenge, and I've just started Chloroform: The Quest for Oblivion by Linda Stratmann, which is a history about the organic compound that served as one of the first anesthetics used during surgeries, along with ether, and as a tool by criminals to rob, assault or murder their victims. If the first few pages are any indication it should be an excellent read. I hope to finish The Assault today, and Chloroform either tomorrow or sometime on Monday.

>159 PaulCranswick: Right, Paul. Although I was taken aback by Deedledee's comment and reacted negatively to it, due in part to being an overly sensitized member of an often maligned minority group in this country, in no way did I think that she was being malicious, and in apologizing to each other I thought that we resolved the matter amiably, and with no hard feelings.

What was most remarkable to me about the subsequent messages was that they were so out of character for the usual discussions in this group, and LibraryThing in general. It's not unusual that we disagree with each other, particularly in our opinions about certain books, but 99+ percent of the time the conversations feature intelligent, mature discussions about our differences, rather than childish rants and petty name calling*. I actually laughed when I read the second post from the troll, as she managed to denigrate me, the two other people who also made the pasta (Jim and Kim), and others who expressed an interest in making it or thought that it sounded good.

*An exception must be made for Amber, though, who IIRC labeled those of us who like cilantro as "dregs of Satan".

I'm glad to hear that you liked Kindred. I thought I owned it, but my LT library says otherwise.

The weather for at least the next two days will be almost the complete opposite of last weekend's ice and snow "storm". It was quite foggy this morning, but the sun is out (it's just past 9 am here) and it will burn off soon. It will reach 72 F (22 C) today and 70 F (21 C) tomorrow, with only a slight chance of brief showers today. In comparison, last Saturday's high temperature was 29 F (-2 C). The weather in Atlanta is often just as wacky in January as it is in December, and many of us are predicting that we'll have more wintry weather next weekend (I have no idea what the actual long term forecast is, though).

>161 kidzdoc: Hahaha, exceptions must be made of course for Amber.

>162 PaulCranswick: Always.

*hides behind sofa in anticipation of the Wrath of Amber.

Breaking news: Donald Trump has lost his f***ing mind. Earlier this morning Cheeto Jesus, in response to criticisms of his upcoming presidency by my Congressman, John Lewis, posted the following comments on his Twitter account:



As you can see from the photo in the first message in my thread, Lewis's district is clearly in "horrible shape". Other "crime infested" areas in this district include North Druid Hills, where Emory University and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are located (if any of you saw the movie "Driving Miss Daisy" with Jessica Lang and Morgan Freeman you have seen this neighborhood), and the equally upscale areas of Brookhaven and Decatur.

This man has no business becoming our next president, and I look forward to the day that he is impeached and removed from office. May God protect us until that happens.

>161 kidzdoc: Whoawhoawhoawhoa! WHOA. Cilantro itself is Satan's lettuce; those poor unfortunates who misguidedly think it's edible may need some sort of tastebud therapy, but I would *never* call them names! Some of my best friends are cilantro-eaters!

Yeesh.

Happy Saturday, friend.

>165 scaifea: Whoops. Sorry for my mistake, Amber. (LOL.)

*munches contentedly on a stalk of cilantro*

>164 kidzdoc: Thanks for making me look silly at work! I read your thread and when I got to "Cheeto Jesus" I burst out laughing! I have not heard that one yet!

>166 kidzdoc: *shudders*

Proud to claim the title of cilantro-eater!

>164 kidzdoc: Whole-heartedly agree with you Darryl. He is trying very, very hard to be impeached.

And also count me among the cilantro lovers!

>164 kidzdoc: Hilarious and terrifying in equal measure. I am looking forward to the day of his crash and burn, but also scared witless it will never happen. And I'm not even in the US... I can only begin to imagine how awful it is on your side of the pond :(.

>164 kidzdoc: Amen.

>164 kidzdoc: Until now, I've done my civil duty and voted in every election, even the little local ones. But the thing is - I don't like to read about politics except as needed to decide how to vote. I don't like to talk about politics. I don't like to THINK about politics. And now I need to do it, every day, and in the worst possible circumstances. I can't escape it. And because of my disabilities, I can't get out there and DO anything about it. (Other than a couple calls to stupid voicemails/prerecorded surveys.) I feel helpless and hopeless. It's just an awful, awful situation.

I differ with you on only one point, Darryl, that the Donald "has lost his mind"...I'm not convinced he ever had one.

>165 scaifea: I've heard it claimed that there is a "Cilantro gene" which one either has or not. I definitely DON't have it but hope that those of you who do eat it to your heart's content...just keep it away from my food.

Morning, Daryl, the culinary adventures you've planned for this weekend sound scrumptious! I'm curious about the Andouille and Chicken Jambalaya ... are you using this Food Network Recipe?

Cheering for Aké. One of my favourite memoirs. Looking forward to hearing what you think of it.

(And the cilantro discussions always make me laugh. Much needed with the politics these days-Thanks all.)

>175 RebaRelishesReading: Solidarity, sister!

Your rant instigated us (the boyfriend and I) to read about John Lewis, and be astonished not only at his own achievements but also that the Cheeto Jesus would even consider attacking him. What is the point? JL doesn't need to prove anything, and I'm sure doesn't give a flying f*** what Trump thinks of him, so he'd have been better off just keeping silent! Anyway, thank you for drawing our attention to such an astonishing and brave man.

We are going to make the lamb pasta for dinner tomorrow (and hope it makes sufficient leftovers for the boyfriend and his father for a couple of days). Would you be able to post the link to the recipe of Zucca Toscana at some point?

>167 ChelleBearss: "Cheeto Jesus" is one of the more common nicknames for Trump, Chelle. Surprisingly, the person who gave him that nickname was Rick Wilson, a Republican consultant who was (and hopefully still is) opposed to his presidential campaign.

>168 scaifea: Sorry, ma'am. Out of curiosity (and being serious for a moment), do you like parsley as a garnish?

>169 drneutron:, >170 catarina1: Cilantro lovers, unite!

I love cilantro!

>170 catarina1: The problem with impeaching Trump is that Mike Pence would become the next POTUS (shudder).

>171 lunacat: Right, Jenny. From his tweets I'm inclined to conclude that Trump thinks that John Lewis's district is limited to the poor neighborhoods in SE and SW Atlanta, and does not include the far wealthier areas in NE and NW Atlanta and the mostly upscale cities of Brookhaven and Decatur. As I mentioned just above, even if Trump does crash and burn our presidential line of succession would mean that his replacement would be someone nearly as bad, like the incoming VP Mike Pence. So, we're basically doomed until the 2020 presidential election.

>172 jnwelch: Amen, indeed, Joe.

>180 kidzdoc: I have no problem with parsley as a garnish, but I don't eat it. Cilantro, even as a garnish, infects the food it touches with its disgustingness. Ptooey.

Cilantro?! NO WAY.
Corriander? YES WAY ;)

I follow trump on Facebook, so get to see his tweets too. I sometimes, when feeling like punishing myself, read the comments of which there are thousands within minutes of his posting. It is nerve wrenching, and I haven't got the guts to post any response yet. I heard somewhere that people should hit the comments section with calm and reasoned arguments, as previously the thing to do was not engage. I don't think getting in to a tit for tat situation would be effective, but creating a presence might do something.

Pence is probably worse, actually, as he has both an attention span and a committed agenda. But since Trump is going to let him do all the political work of the presidency anyhow, it may not matter.

>173 Morphidae: I very much agree with you, Morphy. I can only pray that things won't be as bad as I fear they might be, but this week's news doesn't give me much hope that this will be the case.

>174 RebaRelishesReading: I agree, Reba!

>175 RebaRelishesReading: That is correct, Reba. There is a gene variation that allows people who have it to detect the taste of aldehydes in cilantro, which gives the plant a very unpleasant taste. Needless to say I must not have that genetic variant; for me, cilantro has a very pleasant citrus flavor.

>176 lit_chick: Hi, Nancy! Sorry for my very delayed reply. The recipe I use came from my work group's former Business Operations Coordinator; Heather is originally from New Orleans, and this was served in her elementary school cafeteria. I first made it in January 2015 (although it seems as though it's been longer than two years since I've been making it), and I posted the recipe to The Kitchen back then. Anne (@AMQS) made it earlier this month, and after she mentioned it in this year's version of The Kitchen I realized that I hadn't made it in nearly half a year.

Here's a photo of today's batch:



This is the recipe that Heather sent to me in 2013:

Ingredients:
2 bunches chopped green onions
2 celery stalks chopped
1 green bell pepper chopped
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 cups UNCOOKED rice (I use Uncle Ben's parboiled...I think the brand makes all the difference)
1 can beef broth
1 can French Onion soup
1 can tomato soup or sauce (depending on which flavoring you like better)
3/4 stick butter
2 lbs chopped smoked Andouille sausage
2 lbs chopped cooked chicken
parsley

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Spray Pam or olive oil on a 9x13 glass baking dish.
Combine all ingredients in the dish and cover with foil.
Bake for 1.5 hours at 350 degrees stirring at midpoint (45 minute mark).
Add Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning and salt and pepper to taste.

Ingredient Notes:
Chicken can be canned, baked, grilled, rotisserie, etc. Can add raw shrimp too or sub shrimp for sausage or chicken (if using shrimp, peel them and don't put them in until the last 45 minutes so they do not overcook). All canned ingredients are regular size (Campbell brand) soup cans. When placing the butter in the dish I cut it into tablespoons and strategically place around the dish so it does not all land in one spot.

This is the easiest one dish wonder you may ever make!
_______________________________________________________

I use 2 lb of boneless, skinless chicken breasts when I make this jambalaya. I coat them with salt, pepper and olive oil, and bake them at 450 F for 10 minutes on each side. They come out moist, and are thoroughly done, although you may need to cook very thick breasts for 12 minutes on each side.

This recipe makes a ton of jambalaya, and I can usually get eight full servings out of it, as I did today. My 9" x 13" baking pan may be a bit on the large side, at least in comparison to the one my parents own, as the jambalaya spills out of their baking dish, whereas it is barely held in mine. I use Savoie's Andouille Sausage, which is made in Opelousas, Louisiana in the heart of Cajun country and is available at my local Publix supermarket. I have been very pleased with the New Orleans sausage sold by Johnsonville, which is readily available outside of the Deep South, and I think that kielbasa or other smoked sausages would be fine. I did make the mistake of making this with Tofurky (tofu) sausage last year, and it was all but inedible, so I wouldn't recommend using it.

>177 charl08: I'll probably read Aké: The Years of Childhood in the summer, Charlotte.

And the cilantro discussions always make me laugh.

I admittedly do like messing with Amber, now that Jenny is too love stricken to be a prime target and Caroline (@cameling) is only now resurfacing on LT.

>178 scaifea: Sigh...

>179 lunacat: You're welcome, Jenny. You will undoubtedly have seen John Lewis mentioned in several threads in this group recently, as he is the author of March, Book 1 and the two subsequent graphic novels, which many in this group have read within the past year. He is one of the last remaining icons of the Civil Rights Movement, and he has been my United States Congressman ever since I moved to Atlanta nearly 20 years ago. He is revered and respected here, and Trump's tweets will undoubtedly be viewed very negatively by nearly all Atlantans, regardless of their political beliefs.

I look forward to your comments about the Mediterranean lamb and mushroom pasta. The batch I cooked made five servings, using three cups of uncooked pasta instead of the two called for in the recipe (I might actually use four cups of penne rigate the next time I make it). So, there should be sufficient leftovers for your guy and his father.

Here's a link to the recipe for Zuppa Toscana: https://www.budgetbytes.com/2015/01/zuppa-toscana/. Lately I've been using turkey sausage in place of Italian (pork) sausage, and I use 1 lb of it instead of 1/2 lb (1 lb = 16 oz = roughly 455 g).

I was super impressed with this recipe when I made it, Darryl! Even though some of the ingredients/measurements are unfamiliar to me. Such as: stick of butter (our butter comes in 500g blocks), can of beef broth (I substituted 330ml ish of vegetable stock), can of French onion soup (I put in a packet of powdered French onion soup and the corresponding amount of water).
I was just pleased to have sourced some andouille sausage at a farmers market, which was the reason I decided to attempt the recipe. Wasn't there some sort of Cajun spice mix required too?

>181 thornton37814: Hooray for another cilantro lover!

>183 scaifea: Someone else, I think on LT, made the same sort of comment about cilantro recently. There is clearly a massive difference between those who like it, and those who loath it, and it seems to me that this genetic variation has a lot to do with it. For me, parsley is fine as a garnish, although I would much rather have cilantro. I do have to keep this in mind when I cook for others, though.

>184 LovingLit: Cilantro?! NO WAY. Coriander? YES WAY ;)

Wait a minute...in the US we refer to cilantro as the leaves and stems of the plant, and coriander as the seeds of it. I have ground coriander in my spice rack, and I usually keep fresh cilantro in my refrigerator, which I use far more frequently. Am I right in saying that coriander in the UK and New Zealand refers mainly to the plant, i.e., what we would call cilantro?

I don't follow Trump on Facebook or Twitter, but perhaps I need to start doing so. I may need to have hard alcohol available at all times, though.

>160 kidzdoc: I will start The assault tomorrow, Darryl, my readings are slightly delayed.

>190 kidzdoc: coriander for us is the plant itself, leaves and seeds and all. We have ground coriander (seeds) as a spice, and the leaves fresh are called that too. Cilantro is vaguely known as its equivalent in other countries.

And I love it :)

>185 ronincats: Exactly, Roni. I'm not sure which of the two is worse.

>189 LovingLit: I remember you liking this recipe, Megan, and your joy after you located Andouille sausage in (or near) Christchurch, which was very surprising to me!

I have noticed that chefs have to make adjustments in their recipe instructions for US readers versus those from abroad. I have purchased blocks of butter when I've visited London, whereas sticks of butter (8 tbsp/stick) are far more common in the US. The plasticized paper wrapper that covers sticks of butter here are generally divided into eight 1 tbsp segments, so it's easy to measure 3/4 tbsp of butter, as the jambalaya recipe calls for, or 1, 2 or 3+ tbsp of butter, which is relatively common in many of the recipes I use. My copies of Yotam Ottolenghi's books (he's the Israeli chef who owns and operates four or five restaurants in London) are geared toward an American audience, and presumably are different from those published in the UK.

>160 kidzdoc: Will be very interested in your final review on the Chloroform book. There is a historical exhibit at the Ether Dome at Mass General Hospital. (The first use of anesthetic for surgery). I've always wanted to go there. Perhaps when you next come to visit?

There is also this wonderful monument in honor of the use of ether in the Boston Public Garden:



>164 kidzdoc: John Lewis has been a particular hero ever since I was a little girl. No one has been more brave, dedicated or committed in the pursuit of bettering the lives all Americans! DJT's assault on him is particularly egregious and childish.

>180 kidzdoc: I beg to differ. I'm looking towards 2018 as the possibility to take back the Senate and put at least some brakes on the worst excesses. 22 months away.

>187 kidzdoc: Love the inclusion of "Tony Chachere's Creole Spice" from Opelousas, LA. A HUGE canister always has pride of place in my kitchen. Tried "Slap Yo'Mama Creole Spice" once from the same part of the world. Good but not close to Tony Chachere's!

>187 kidzdoc: Woohoo! Thank you so much for recopying the recipe here, Darryl, and for your helpful notes. Safely in my computer now! I must look around for New Orleans sausage. If I cannot find it locally, I know I will be able to find kielbassa. It looks absolutely delicious!

>182 kidzdoc: Pence's policies are horrible, but I think that he is a little more in touch with reality and would be more likely to listen to Congress and public opinion on some issue.

I'm sure Donald Trump thinks that any district that would elect a person of color must have a predominantly black or Hispanic population, and of course, to Trump, that means their neighborhoods are poor, run down, crime-infested, and drug ridden. Sadly, that's what a lot of his supporters want to believe, so he gives it back to them. Absolutely disgusting.

>164 kidzdoc: "May God protect us until that happens." Amen.

I love cilantro.

>196 Cariola: Sadly, I believe that is accurate.

The jambalaya looks yummy!

Consider this a drive-by visit, Darryl. I hope you're having a good weekend.

>182 kidzdoc: Pence is wa-a-a-a-y at the other end of the political scale from me but at least he's sane.

>186 kidzdoc: Amazing! I thought it was just a joking way of saying folks tend to feel strongly one way or the other about Cilantro but the gene thing is real -- wow!

>198 RebaRelishesReading: Right. I don't think he would be as eager to start dropping nuclear bombs, and so far he hasn't been tweeting. Or pussy-grabbing.

Get me a bowl ready Darryl because I fancy a share of that jambalaya. I would happily take a big sprig of coriander with it too especially as Amber is probably safely away reading with Charlie and not out patrolling for the Cilantro Police. I guess Reba might tell her though.

>193 kidzdoc: I have noticed that chefs have to make adjustments in their recipe instructions for US readers versus those from abroad British recipe books will always show quantities by weight (previously in oz now in grams), rather than in cups. The exception is for small quantities, so recipes will still call for a tablespoon or teaspoonful. Liquids will be shown in millilitres. I do have a set of measuring cups in my kitchen, (not sure why) but I can't say I've ever used them.

I'm on the side of cilantro is nasty and I can't believe people actually eat food that has it as an ingredient. I have actually spit food out because it was so awful because of it. And I was brought up that you NEVER do anything like that. EVER.

Just catching up with your thread, Darryl. My it has been busy with a stalker, cooking, drama and snow warnings. Good to hear that your back is better, the weather is more normal and the outlook is more peaceful.

>203 Morphidae: my mom, I'm sad to say, is the worst cook I can imagine. She does not follow recipes- often forgetting important ingredients like sugar - and will substitute using ingredients that have the same color or texture. I don't know what my dad's strategy is, but I take small bites and wash them down with water.

ETA: I have no problems with cilantro. My dad has the gene that makes broccali awful. Is that the same gene as the cilantro one?

Morning, Darryl! Happy Sunday! Hope you are enjoying your weekend off. The bake up there in #187 looks amazing.

Looks like the Falcons are rolling, huh?

I'm making a coriander chicken curry next week, I think :-)

Happy Sunday, everyone! I took a couple of naps in the late afternoon and early evening after waking up early yesterday to go to Publix, which was helpful because I'll start a stretch of four swing (second) shifts (5 pm to 1 am) tomorrow. I finished The Assault by Harry Mulisch early this morning, which I'll review later today. Bianca read my copy of it when we met in Spain last June, and she rated it 5 stars; I agree completely.

I didn't make Emeril Lagasse's macaroni & cheese recipe, so I'll do so this afternoon. After I catch up here and make the rounds I'll make another batch of Zuppa Toscana, and I'll probably make the asparagus, mushroom & bacon quiche tomorrow before I go to work.

I'll resume reading Chloroform: The Quest for Oblivion by Linda Stratmann, which I hope to finish tomorrow as well.

I'm glad you liked The Assault Darryl, it's a fine novel, and I've read it a couple of times.

Back to >189 LovingLit: Yes, the jambalaya recipe calls for Tony Chachere's Original Creole Seasoning, which contains salt, red pepper, black pepper, chili powder and garlic.



I would be shocked if you could find this in Christchurch. Then again I was shocked when you found Andouille sausage there! There are several other similar Cajun or Creole spice blends, but Tony Chachere's is my favorite.

>191 FAMeulstee: Excellent, Anita; I look forward to your thoughts about The Assault. Earlier today Hani posted several photos of Paul sitting in a café, intensely reading a book. The cover looked very familiar, and when I zoomed in he was reading The Assault as well! I'll be sure to visit his thread after I'm caught up here to see if he's finished it yet.

I owe you a visit as well, so I'll drop by after I say hello to Paul.

>192 LovingLit: Now that I think of it I also have a package of Badia diced cilantro leaves in my spice rack, along with ground coriander, also in my spice rack, and fresh cilantro that I bought from Publix yesterday. I hardly ever use the dried spices, though.

>208 kidzdoc: & >209 Caroline_McElwee: I will also be chiming in with praise for The Assault. I am halfway through and thoroughly enjoying it.

>194 michigantrumpet: I would love to go to that historical exhibition at MGH, Marianne!

Looking at your abbreviation of the incoming POTUS's initials, I notice that if you add two eyes (i's) to it you come up with iDJiT. I would imagine that I'm not the first person to notice that, but I'll claim the idea otherwise.

I completely agree with you about 2018; Take Back America should be the theme of the midterm elections, IMO.

I didn't realize that Tony Chachere's, like Savoie's, is also based in Opelousas, LA! That's one of the centers, if not the heart of Cajun Country, though, so I'm not surprised. I have a large (17 oz) container of Original Creole Seasoning as well; fortunately Publix always has it in stock, as I'll probably need to buy another container in the near future.

Your mention of Slap Ya Mama Cajun Seasoning (which I haven't had or seen) reminded me of a humorous incident in my hospital a few years ago. I don't remember all the details, but there was a four or five year old precocious and chatty African American boy that I took care of, and somehow we got on the topic of food...oh, I remember: I was about to discharge him from the hospital, and I asked him what he planned to do when he got home. He said that he wanted to have fish at his neighbors' house. He liked the fish there because "they put Slap Ya Mama on it". His mother and I looked at each other in bewilderment, as neither of us had heard of this product, and practically simultaneously said to him, "Slap Ya What?!" He told us that it was the hot sauce that his neighbors put on fish. His mother whipped out her mobile phone, and she quickly found a photo of this sauce:



I routinely put Tabasco sauce on the fried fish I buy from a local fish and chips shop on Auburn Avenue near Ebenezer Baptist Church and the Martin Luther King, Jr. Historical Site when I get my hair cut. I'll need to buy more hot sauce soon, so I'll see if Publix stocks Slap Ya Mama.

>195 lit_chick: You're welcome, Nancy! I should re-post the jambalaya recipe to The Kitchen, as it's been two years since I last did so. I also posted that photo and the recipe to my Facebook page yesterday; I originally thought that it was redundant to do so, but nearly two dozen people have "liked" that post so far, including people who I wasn't FB friends with two years ago.

I imagine that you'll be able to find an acceptable sausage for this recipe. I did make it with shrimp instead of sausage last spring when I visited my parents, but my father, brother and I found it to be a bit disappointing (although nowhere near as bad as when I made it with tofu sausage!).

Do let me know if the ingredients or portions are unclear.

>196 Cariola: I agree with you about Pence, at least from what little I know about him. Hopefully he will serve as a voice of reason to trump. Someone needs to cancel his Twitter account as well!

I agree with you 100% about trump's racist assumption that John Lewis's congressional district must be a ghetto infested one. What he, and probably many others, don't realize is that Atlanta has a large population of college educated professional African Americans like myself, and that the city has a majority of African Americans, although Caucasians are moving back into the city by the thousands after decades of white flight, so the overall population is increasing sharply and becoming more racially balanced. As I expected, Intown Atlantans of all races were deeply offended by trump's tweets, and responded as I did on my Facebook post yesterday, by posting photos of their "horrible" and "crime infested" neighborhoods.

>197 EBT1002: Hi, Ellen! As I just mentioned on Facebook to my good friend (and former Tulane classmate) Karl, Heather's jambalaya is nowhere near as good as the killer one made by my late great aunt, my grandmother's sister, who lived close to campus and was, hands down, the best cook in our family (including both of my parents, who can throw down in the kitchen, as we say). However, her jambalaya was a half day project, with multiple steps involved; I visited her often on Sundays when I lived there, and saw her make it several times, although I wasn't smart enough to get her recipe from her then. This recipe is incredibly easy in comparison.

Darryl, wasn't His Bloody Project your favourite Booker of 2016? I've just finished reading it and enjoyed it a lot, so much more than Hot Milk the only other Booker Contender that I'd read previously. What I hadn't realised till I started reading it, was that I have been to the place where it is set on our Scotland holiday of 2015 (and once before as well, I think in 1989) and that has added enormously to my enjoyment. It's a very remote part of Scotland even now, and I've posted a couple of photos on my thread.

>198 RebaRelishesReading: Sanity will be a very welcome trait in the upcoming administration, Reba, at least for the rest of us.

>199 RebaRelishesReading: Yes, the gene variant (OR6A2) that allows those who have it to detect the bitter taste of aldehydes in cilantro has been isolated. I'm glad that I don't possess it, and I feel sorry for those who do.

I would be curious to learn about the distribution of OR6A2 worldwide. I wonder if it's less prevalent in populations where cilantro is used most commonly, e.g. southern Europe, India, Asia and Latin America. I could be wrong, but I think my father isn't overly fond of cilantro, although I could be mixing it up with guacamole, which I know he doesn't like (quelle horreur!).

>200 Cariola: Exactly, Deborah. We may all end up being grateful for Mike Pence's presence in the incoming administration.

>215 kidzdoc: Just noting that coriander is my absolutely favourite herb!

Darryl, this came to my attention this morning. It may well be the only funny thing about the current state of affairs in your country. And I was never a fan of Alec Baldwin before this, either.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/15/arts/donald-trump-saturday-night-live.html?sm...

>201 PaulCranswick: There's plenty of jambalaya here, Paul! I only ate a forkful of it yesterday, so there are still four servings left. The first time I made it at my parents' house my brother went berserk, as he went back for seconds, thirds and fourths of it. This batch turned out great, so I'm sure you would like it. Wait a minute...the Andouille is a pork sausage, though. You could just make chicken jamb, or chicken & seafood jamb, which would be nearly as good.

Hmm...I haven't made Heather's crawfish étouffée in well over a year, which is also excellent. I'll look for crawfish at Publix or Whole Foods later this month and make a batch soon.



I suspect that Amber won't mind if you, I and others eat cilantro to our hearts' content, so long as we don't sneak any of it into her jambalaya.

>202 SandDune: That's very interesting to hear that you don't use measuring cups when you cook, Rhian! I almost always use them, with the jambalaya being one (and possibly the only) exception. I have two sets of measuring cups, one set ranging from 1/4 tsp to 1 tbsp, and the other from 1/4 cup to 1 cup, and I have a larger (2 cup) measuring cup as well. I have a small bamboo scale, but I don't use it anywhere near as often. (Hmm...I think my mother also bought me an old fashioned small scale, but I have no idea where it is.)

>203 Morphidae: You're not alone, Morphy. Your comment reminded me of the person I was trying to think of who also hates cilantro. It was April, one of the PCA 3 nurses, who is originally from rural Indiana; she told me about the time she went to a restaurant, possibly in a South American country (she does missionary work through her church), and chose a particularly appealing meat based dish that she was eager to try. When she was told that it was made with cilantro she tried to tell the staff that she hated it, and didn't want in her meal. The waiter or chef dismissed her request and gave it to her with cilantro, as that was the way it was traditionally prepared. Unfortunately it tasted so bad, due to the cilantro, that she couldn't eat it.

The New Orleans chili I made for Christmas lunch with the PCA 3 nurses contained cilantro. I can't remember if April was there that day or not. I'm thinking not, though.

Trump (loved that Cheeto Jesus nickname) doesn't scare me half as much as Pence. Trump isn't smart enough on his own to be scary. He is a tool for other scarier people - like Pence.

My mother hates cilantro. She says it tastes like soap. I love it. I hate celery. I think it tastes like (something bad). For me it is the vilest tasting thing on the planet. I can eat it when it is cooked but RAW - forget it. I think it might be a texture thing rather than taste. Why do people ruin great apples salads with raw celery?

>204 Familyhistorian: Hi, Meg! The weather here is glorious, although I probably won't go outside to experience it. It looks as though we may set a record high temperature for the day, as it's supposed to hit 75 F (24 C) today, and it's already 68 F (20 C) at the 11 o'clock hour.

It's a shame that Zoë and Mark were here last weekend instead of this one. Then again the weather was nice just before they came, deteriorated rapidly after they arrived, and dramatically improved after they left. Coincidence?

>205 The_Hibernator: That sounds absolutely horrible, Rachel! I was very spoiled by growing up in a family with two excellent cooks (both parents), so I don't think there would be enough water to wash away the taste of your mother's cooking, at least the way you described it. How could she stand to eat her own food?!

>206 msf59: Happy Sunday, Mark! I love jambalaya, along with practically all Louisiana cuisine, and Heather's version of it is a grand slam home run. Her recipes for crawfish étouffée and white chicken chili are outstanding as well.

The Falcons are rolling, although I'm not a fan of the team. I will root for them unreservedly if the Packers don't beat the Cowboys today, though.

>207 charl08: Coriander chicken curry sounds good, Charlotte. Can I ask you to post the recipe or at least a photo of it on your thread or in The Kitchen after you make it? I'm always on the lookout for new and interesting recipes.

BTW, if I haven't mentioned it already, I updated my Pinterest recipe boards several months ago, and I've been keeping them up to date since then.

>209 Caroline_McElwee: I loved The Assault, Caroline. I bought it at Boekhandel Dominicanen in Maastricht in June, when I met "Monkey" and her husband Frans there. He is Dutch, although they live in Belgium, and he recommended that book highly. Now that I think about it both books I bought there were outstanding reads, as the other one was Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi.

>211 PaulCranswick: I'm glad that you're also enjoying The Assault, Paul. Your look of concentration in Hani's photo suggested that you were deeply into it!

Back to >205 The_Hibernator: I didn't know that there was a gene associated with dislike of broccoli. I hate broccoli, one of the very few vegetables I won't eat, along with mirliton and yellow turnip, although I love broccolini, so maybe there is a genetic basis to explain my dislike of broccoli.

Hmm...interesting. I just read an article from Prevention magazine, titled Do You Have The Gene That Makes You Hate Broccoli?, which mentions the gene variant TAS2R38. People who possess this variant find hoppier beers, broccoli and leafy green vegetables like kale to taste unpleasantly bitter. I don't think this is my problem, as I love kale (which I'll include shortly when I make Zuppa Toscana) and strong beers (no Budweiser for me, please!).

>215 kidzdoc: His Bloody Project was high on my list of favorites from last year's Booker Prize longlist, Rhian; I think I rated Work Like Any Other by Virginia Reeves above it, though. I'm glad you liked it as well. I'll have to look for those photos of Scotland you took and posted; I'd like to see them, particularly after reading that excellent book.

>216 SandDune: Hooray for another cilantro/coriander lover! There may be other herbs I like better (thyme, rosemary and basil come to mind immediately), but I use cilantro far more often than any other one.

>217 jessibud2: I watched that excellent SNL skit this morning, Shelley. I think Alec Baldwin should win an Emmy Award later this year for his brilliant portrayals of trump, and I hope he continues to do so. I wonder if the Tweeter-in-Chief has responded to last night's episode yet.

>219 benitastrnad: Ooh, I have to disagree with you, Benita. trump scares me more than Pence does, as the former is an irrational and untrustworthy megalomaniac who could do something profoundly damaging in a fit of anger, whereas Pence is considerably more balanced, although I obviously disagree with practically anything he stands for.

>220 benitastrnad: I'm glad that you're also a cilantro lover; at least we agree about something! However, I don't mind the taste of raw celery, especially when I can have it with ranch dressing or peanut butter. I don't mind diced cooked celery in meals, but I'm not fond of large pieces of it, particularly in soups, and I would only eat cream of celery soup if nothing else was available.

Wow...I can't believe it's almost 12:30 pm! I'd better get started on the Zuppa Toscana. Back later.

Jane (@janemarieprice) from Club Read just posted photos of this amazing bookcase in that group. My birthday is coming up, and if anyone wants to get this for me I'll gladly send you my home address.

>221 kidzdoc: I've always wondered how my mom managed to go so long without realizing that she couldn't cook. At the moment, I'm living with my parents (which is best due to their health and mom's inability to drive), so I do a lot of the cooking myself. When I was a young teen, my mom offered to teach me "how to cook" as her dad taught her. I said I wasn't interested in learning how to cook. :) I have no idea whether her dad knew how to cook or not, he unfortunately died before I was born.

>223 kidzdoc: I just asked my dad about kale and he said he doesn't know if he likes kale because it's part of that leafy green vegetable family that he doesn't like eating. And he doesn't know about his beer tastes as he doesn't drink.

>218 kidzdoc: And it's a real shame. I'd *like* to enjoy cilantro as it seems to be in everything nowadays.

>221 kidzdoc: I'm with you. Both my mother and my grandmother were very good cooks. MrMorphy does most of the cooking now, but *I* trained him. Or mostly trained him. His parents did a decent job on the basics (how to scramble an egg, make a roast, grill a steak, mash potatoes, etc.) Then I finished him up on how to use recipes and twitchier things like sauteing and using a wok.

>223 kidzdoc: Yum broccoli. (Has to be cooked though.)

>224 kidzdoc: I'm with you on celery and peanut butter. Also like celery soup but not as a first or even second choice. However, we use it a lot when cooking soups and stews. Need to use the big three - onion, carrot, and celery! Using today, in fact, with an arm roast in the crockpot.

>225 kidzdoc: - Call me weird but I think I like the look of that bookcase empty, rather than full. I like how it offers space for tall books - that's often a problem - but it looks just too stuffed when it's loaded up like that. I prefer to intersperse a tiny bit of art on my shelves. That gives me a place for such things, plus it breaks up the *stuffed* look. I think one could get a headache or a crick in the neck, trying to read spine titles in the one pictured above.

The Zuppa Toscana is ready!



INGREDIENTS:

½ lb. Italian Sausage (hot or mild) $1.46
1 yellow onion $0.32
2 cloves garlic $0.16
1 (15 oz.) can Great Northern beans $1.00
½ tsp smoked paprika $0.05
3 cups chicken broth* $0.36
1 cup water $0.00
2 cups half and half $1.69
3 medium red potatoes (1.5-1.75 lbs.) $1.67
1 bunch (8 oz.) kale, chopped $1.50
pinch red pepper flakes (optional) $0.02
freshly cracked black pepper (optional) $0.05

INSTRUCTIONS:

Squeeze the sausage out of its casing into a large pot. Sauté over medium heat, breaking it up into small pieces as it cooks. The sausage should contain enough fat to keep it from sticking, if not add a touch of olive oil. It's okay if a small amount browns on the bottom of the pot.

While the sausage is cooking, dice the onion and mince the garlic. Add them to the pot and sauté until the onions are softened. The moisture from the onions should help dissolve any browned bits of sausage off the bottom of the pot.

Drain and rinse the can of beans. Add the beans, smoked paprika, chicken broth, one cup water, and half and half to the pot. Place a lid on the pot and let it come up to a simmer over medium heat.

While the pot is heating, cut each potato into quarters lengthwise, then slice across into thin slices. Add the potatoes to the pot along with the pre-chopped kale. The kale will fill the pot when it's first added, but the heat from the liquid will wilt it within a few minutes. Stir it occasionally to help the wilting process.

Let the pot simmer over medium heat for about 15 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender. Season with red pepper flakes and freshly cracked black pepper if desired.
_________________________________________________________________

The past few times I've made this recipe I've used lean ground turkey in place of Italian (pork) sausage, which makes this recipe an even healthier one. I use entire (16-20 oz) package of ground turkey, so my soup is considerably meatier than the Budget Bytes recipe is. As usual, I use a Vidalia sweet onion in place of a white or yellow onion, and I double up on the garlic; other than that I follow the recipe exactly. It makes a nearly full pot of soup, and I'm usually able to get six or more servings from it.

I just had a bowl for a late lunch, and I'm still inspired to do more cooking, so I'll start making the macaroni & cheese shortly.

>226 The_Hibernator: I've always wondered how my mom managed to go so long without realizing that she couldn't cook.

I suppose that one's taste buds adapt and normalize primarily to the foods prepared at home. Unfamiliar foods are probably less enjoyable in general, especially if they differ significantly from what we're used to. I'm not sure if that makes any sense, but it's my story, and I'm sticking to it!

I just finished a bowl of Zuppa Toscana, which is loaded with kale, and I can confirm that this leafy vegetable isn't the least bit bitter to my taste buds. So, I doubt that the TAS2R38 gene variant has anything to do with my dislike of broccoli, from what I understand.

>227 Morphidae: Cilantro does seem to be rapidly gaining in popularity, Morphy. I'm sorry that you find it so distasteful.

Hurrah for good cooks at home! I received very little direct instructions on cooking from my parents, and what I make has almost no overlap with what they cook. (Hmm...I can't think of a single thing I make that came directly from either of them, save for extremely basic things like waffles and cooked eggs.) I have observed them cook, though, and have picked up tips and habits from them, so I would still say that they were very influential in my ability to cook well. (That's not my own opinion, of course; it's based on the comments made by family, friends and co-workers who have tried what I've made for them.)

I used to like broccoli, but as I got older I had progressively more difficulty in digesting it, which led to crampy abdominal pain, bloating and nausea. I used to enjoy having broccoli & cheddar soup and salads with broccoli in the cafeteria where I worked in the mid to late 1980s while I took night classes at Rutgers. Using a scientific approach I was able to identify broccoli as the cause for my symptoms, and subsequently I developed a distaste for the vegetable, which is almost certainly psychological in nature. I'll pick it out of entrées and soups, as I can tolerate small amounts of broccoli without any noticeable difficulty, but I'll avoid it whenever possible.

I'm a bit weird when it comes to carrots. I'll eat raw ones to my heart's content, either plain, in salads or dipped in ranch or, better yet, blue cheese dressing, and carrot juice is divine. I love carrot soup, particularly the carrot ginger coconut shrimp soup that I often make in the autumn and winter, but I'm not overly fond of sliced carrots in cooked soups and stews, although I will eat it.

The onion in all forms is one of the foods of the gods. I can even eat raw Vidalia sweet onions, which my father shudders at. He was quite allergic to onions as a kid, and although he can tolerate them now he is still not overly fond of him, which sometimes (mildly) clashes with the recipes I make when I visit them.

I wasn't sure what arm roast was until I looked it up just now, but it looks good! I hope that you and Mr Morphy enjoy it.

>228 jessibud2: I can see where you're coming from, Shelley, although I do prefer the look of the filled bookcase.

Hmm...I'm sleepy all of a sudden (postprandial stupor). I think I'll take a nap, then make the macaroni & cheese.

>230 kidzdoc: - Oh, Darryl, don't misunderstand me. LOL. My shelves at home are indeed full. In fact, even though I have several, I also have lots of piles of books on the floors, that there aren't (yet?) room for on the shelves...

>230 kidzdoc: As you are with broccoli, I am with brats, kielbasa and such. I used to like them a lot but they cause me such stomach pain, intestinal pain and nausea, I simply can't eat them anymore.

Eh, I'm not crazy about carrots except as a side dish of honeyed carrots but they are a must, as I said, in soups and stews. Not because I particularly care for eating them, but for the flavor. In fact, I usually eat them first to get them out of the way. Once in a rare while, I'll eat some baby carrots with ranch dressing.

I really can't stand onions unless they are cut up small to cook into food. However, they are vital in several recipes including spaghetti and any soup or stew.

An arm roast is a cheap cut that really isn't very good unless cooked a long time. We're cooking it for 8 hours in the crockpot today along with potatoes, carrots, onions, celery (see?), mushrooms, beef broth, cream of mushroom soup, Lipton onion soup mix, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion salt. It should be yummy.

Wow, that etoufee pic looked magnificent! I need to make a batch sometime!

Hi Darryl! I originally found Pence scarier than Trump; but now I am not so sure. At least I am pretty sure Pence is not owned by Russia. But the really scary thing to me is how pretty much all of the Republicans are lining up behind Trump and pretending that he is normal.

Hooray for John Lewis! It's nice to see that someone is speaking truth to power, and some congress people, including my own Earl Blumenhauer, are boycotting the inauguration with him.

We made the lamb pasta tonight and enjoyed it, though we had to make several adjustments, the main being we forgot to get tomatoes so had to use canned tomatoes instead. Also, the tomato passata we had has been a flop and we definitely won't be buying that again - a lack of any tomato taste at all!

We added mushroom ketchup (basically Worcestershire sauce) and cumin.

Can't wait until we can cook it with our own homegrown tomatoes.

Onions are indeed one of the things that are eaten up on Mount Olympus by those discerning gods. And garlic. I'm the same as you and always want more onion and garlic in my food. TheBoyfriend calls me a garlic monster or a garlic fiend.

>210 kidzdoc: I finished The assault, Darryl, and put my thoughts on my thread.

Love raw celery and broccoli, but gag at the thought of raw onions. I've been that way about raw onions since I was a child. Whenever I order a salad or a tuna melt or something like that when eating out I have to ask if there are onions, and if so I have to change my order. Many recipes I make have cooked onions, though, and that's fine with me--just can't even stand the smell of the raw ones in something I'm about to eat.

And even though I love broccoli, I find kale too bitter to eat.

While I totally disagree with Pence about just about everything, I agree that he is probably not crazy enough to get us into a nuclear war, which is something I can't say about Trump.

I just heard on the news that Barnum & Bailey are closing their circus for good. In May. Frankly, I would have thought next week, inauguration day, might have been a more appropriate day.... ;-p

Butting in to say that I'm also totally in love with fresh coriander, I use it all the time & buy it several times a week from one of my local fruit & veges places. As it's summer here, I'm using it a lot when making avocado salsas, guacamole or just making a spice paste for meat dishes. If I'm just using the coriander leaves I also chop the stalks and freeze them for use at a later date.
I've been making waldorf salad a few times lately, we got a large bag of walnuts so I've made some mayonnaise and have to say, if you like celery this is as good as it gets.

>212 kidzdoc: My husband swears by Cholula hot sauce.


And we had Caldo Gallegos at a Cuban restaurant today that was similar to your soup above--white beans, potatoes, spinach and pork. Very tasty.

Love cilantro, especially in my Pad Thai, and don't like raw celery. I tolerate cooked celery because I like the taste it gives broths and sauces.

Several months ago, the best Asian restaurant in town suffered a fire. It wasn't their fault. It started in a light fixture in the building they rented. They just reopened this week in a new location. They completely renovated the old Pizza Hut. The parking lot has been full every time I've gone by. I stopped for lunch today and got the last parking spot on one side of the building -- and I was early since I'd gone to early service and left after the choir sang in third service. I was out before the after-church crowd really arrived, and the parking lot was already full. Some people who went later said they had to park at nearby businesses which are closed on Sundays. It was the best Mongolian Chicken I've had in a long time. They've added Thai to the menu so they now serve Chinese, Japanese, and Thai. They just need to add Korean and Philippino so I can get my fill of kimchi and lumpia.

I didn't have enough half & half to make Emeril Lagasse's macaroni & cheese, so I'll put that off until later this week. I had intended to make the asparagus, mushroom and bacon quiche instead, but I slept for several hours and woke up too late to want to make it. Depending on how late I stay awake overnight I may make it sometime on Monday before I leave for work.

>231 jessibud2: I also need to buy more bookcases, Shelley! The one in >225 kidzdoc: looks fabulous, but at $4700 it's far too pricey for my taste.

>232 Morphidae: Although it's a shame you're undoubtedly better off staying away from sausages, Morphy. Other than two of my favorite recipes that call for sausage, the jambalaya and red cabbage & sausage soup, I hardly ever keep them at home, although I do enjoy them.

*shudders at the thought of honeyed carrots*

Your crock pot arm roast sounds good! How did it turn out?

I'm not very knowledgeable on cuts of meat, especially beef. My father took, and later taught, a class at the local YWCA called "Know Your Meats". I wasn't able to take the class, as I was working and taking night courses at Rutgers, but I wish I had. I don't eat much beef, though, but it would useful to be able to cook a whole chicken and a turkey, especially during the holidays.

>233 drneutron: That photo of crawfish étouffée wasn't mine, or Heather's, but it does look similar to hers. Hmm...there is another recipe of hers that I like, but I can't remember what it is. I should still have the e-mails she sent listing these recipes, though, including her New Orleans bread pudding, which I haven't tried yet.

>234 banjo123: Hi, Rhonda! I find Mike Pence very scary, but at least he is rational and I doubt he would start a very damaging war, which I can't say with confidence about trump.

I suspect that Republican politicians are lining up behind trump mainly because those that elected them into office are demanding that they support him unconditionally, and the party leadership is probably also insisting that they do. Hopefully the few moderate (i.e. sensible) Republicans left in Congress will join Democrats in opposing his most absurd and dangerous policies and statements once he takes office on Friday.

IIRC I thought I had read that most of the past presidents were also planning to boycott the inauguration. Checking...no, that seems to have been a false story. Apparently Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush will be in attendance. George H.W. Bush apparently won't be there, due to his failing health, but I presume that Barack Obama will be there, as trump's immediate predecessor.

I'm sure that my Congressman, John Lewis, will continue to speak out against trump. Hopefully the voices of many other politicians will join his.

>235 lunacat: I'm glad that both of you enjoyed the lamb pasta, Jenny. At this time of year I would rather use canned tomatoes than hothouse ones, so I did the same thing. Am I correct in assuming that what you call tomato passata we in the US call tomato sauce? Do UK supermarkets sell tomato passata and tomato sauce? From what I just read the passata is meatier and more flavorful than sauce is, so that's very disappointing that the passata you bought was tasteless!

I've never heard of mushroom ketchup before! I do have a bottle of Lea & Perrins Original Worcestershire Sauce in my pantry, but mushrooms aren't listed as an ingredient. I searched for mushroom ketchup online at the two major supermarkets in Atlanta, Publix and Kroger, but the replies I received said "mushroom what?!"

I must say that I'm fascinated by the cultural differences in cuisines and ingredients, particularly between the US and UK, but also between here and the Netherlands or Spain. Shopping at convenience stores and supermarkets in Europe is often an adventure, although I'm becoming a bit more familiar with the weird different items sold in England. (I have no doubt that Britons find American foods to be equally bizarre, though.)

Cumin is always good in Mediterranean recipes, so that was a splendid idea.

Hail to onions and garlic! I enjoy their taste, and I enjoy the aroma when I sauté them together, as I did on Sunday when I made Zuppa Toscana.

>236 FAMeulstee: I look forward to reading your comments about The Assault, Anita. I think I'll write my review of it before I visit your thread, though.

>237 arubabookwoman: My father would agree with you, Deborah, but not me! (This is more evidence that the mailman is my true father.) One of my favorite sandwiches that I made in my teen years combined canned tuna, pickle relish, mayonnaise and huge chunks of raw onion in a toasted Italian torpedo roll. The middle daughter of the neighbors directly across the street from us, who was a year behind me in school although we were the same age (I skipped second grade), often made those sandwiches with me after school and during summers. I saw her for the first time in years last summer, and we said that we would have to make those tuna sandwiches again the next time we met, for old times' sake.

Dumb question: Do people eat raw kale? I've had dried kale chips, which tasted bitter to me, and cooked kale, which I don't find bitter at all, at least when I've made it.

I'll gladly trade you my raw broccoli for your raw onion.

>238 jessibud2: Ha! I've decided that the inauguration band should play "Send In the Clowns" in place of "Hail to the Chief" upon trump's arrival.

>242 kidzdoc: I have to ask -what is half and half?

D--I just finished The Vegetarian with Megan, and loved it! Totally jealous that you have a copy of Human Act on its way to you.

And the comment was totally blocked by the time I got to your thread, but I was denigrated by the troll and totally missed it?! Dang it. I miss all the drama.

Love cilantro!! And just made Zuppa Toscana last week. That is another favorite. Tonight I made Chicken mushroom potpie. Yum! And we had kale chips (baked in the oven after drizzling with oil, salt and pepper) tonight for snacks.

>239 avatiakh: Whoa...you use far more cilantro/coriander than I do, Kerry! I'll buy it at least once every two weeks, and usually every week if I'm cooking something. None of the four recipes I planned to make this weekend called for it, but I bought some anyway.

I don't think I've had Waldorf salad before, and I'm certain that I haven't heard of it, despite growing up in the shadow of NYC. It sounds good, though, so I'll have to give it a try in the spring or summer.

>240 ronincats: I haven't heard of Cholula hot sauce before, Roni, but I'd love to try it! I'll look for it when I go grocery shopping later this week; I'll probably stop by my local Kroger, which is open 24 hours a day, after my shift ends early tomorrow morning.

I haven't had caldo gallego before, but it sounds good.

>241 thornton37814: Mongolian chicken? Yes, please!

>245 SandDune: Our half & half is, I believe, what you call half cream in the UK, Rhian; it's a mixture of 1/2 milk and 1/2 heavy cream.



>246 Berly: I'm glad that you enjoyed The Vegetarian, Kim. I tink that Human Acts is being offered again in this month's batch of LT Early Reviewers books.

The mushroom ketchup we have is the geo Watkins one listed on the wiki, so I was interested to learn it contains very little mushroom! I consider it to be similar to Lea and Perrins because it's primarily vinegar based and adds some complexity and different flavours to things like bolognese, soups etc.

The US would definitely be just as confusing to me to go and shop in! I have never seen anything like half and half over here. Having investigated, someone said to do a UK version they use a 2:1 mix of single cream and full fat milk. Apparently half and half has a typical fat content of 12% and our single cream is 18% so the 2:1 ratio makes sense.

>242 kidzdoc: - $4700?!?! Holy moly! What are they made of, gold?? Yikes!

Darryl, did you happen to catch 60 Minutes last night? The entire hour was devoted to an interview with Barack Obama. A retrospective exit interview, of sorts. So excellent. My overall impression of the man (which hasn't changed since day one, incidentally, other than to be reinforced) was that the biggest glaring difference between him and the BOG (Big Orange Gasbag, not my words but isn't it great) is that Obama can sit and speak quietly, calmly, maturely, intelligently. He will answer questions asked of him, he is able to self-assess and when asked what he did well and what he would like to do over, he is able to reflect, be honest and realistic. In short, he behaves like an adult. An intelligent, articulate adult. And he has a sense of humour.

If you missed it, I'm sure the 60 Minutes website would have it, or at least, portions of it, there for viewing.

I don't see that anyone has mentioned this NYT article this AM:

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/16/books/transcript-president-obama-on-what-book...

I sure hope they continue with articles on what he is reading post presidency. I'm pretty sure the incoming tribe doesn't read much.....esp. not much that I'd be interested in.

The lamb-mushroom-pasta is on the menu tonight. I may even have to add a touch of cilantro (wink)

Also this article from the New Yorker on John Lewis:

http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/john-lewis-donald-trump-and-the-meaning-...

Happy MLK Day, buddy. Hope you have a good one.

>251 tangledthread: - Thank you for that link. Precisely why I have such a permanent crush on this man. I am really looking forward to more writing from him, too. I have read his 2 books and can't wait for the next ones.

"Fiction was useful as a reminder of the truths under the surface of what we argue about every day and was a way of seeing and hearing the voices, the multitudes of this country."

Ain't that the truth...

>249 lunacat: I went back to Wikipedia and read that Geo Watkins' mushroom ketchup has only 3% mushrooms in it; I guess that counts, right?

Lea & Perrins is the standard Worcestershire sauce in the US, so at least we have that in common.

My container of heavy cream from Publix indicates that it has 18% saturated fat, and my container of half & half has 10%. I think that whole milk sold here has 3-4% fat, so a mixture of half milk and half cream would have 10-11% fat.

Is there a UK-US translation food guide for bewildered supermarket shoppers from abroad?

>250 jessibud2: Yep. For that price it ought to be plated in gold, and have a remote control that allows you to locate any book by entering its name into it.

I didn't watch 60 Minutes last night, and I had no idea that the program was dedicated to Barack Obama. Thanks for telling me about it, Shelley; I'll see if I can watch it at work on my computer tonight.

>251 tangledthread: Thanks for posting that NYT article, tangledthread! I haven't looked at the NYT all weekend, so I missed seeing it; I'll have to see if it's in today's paper.

I hope that you like the lamb and mushroom pasta as much as the rest of us did. I'll be curious to get your take on it.

>252 tangledthread: Thanks for posting that New Yorker article about John Lewis as well!

>253 jnwelch: Happy MLK, Jr. Day to you as well, Joe! Are you working today? ;-)

It's time for a new thread...and some book reviews.

>242 kidzdoc: Perhaps it's the preservatives they use in the sausages? The roast was very nummy. They sure do shrink though!

>244 kidzdoc: I've done your tuna sandwich minus the onions (but added celery) in the past. Nowadays it's just tuna and Miracle Whip.

>246 Berly: If you REALLY wanted to you could click on "Show" but really, why bother?

>255 kidzdoc: - Darryl, a friend of mine who missed the 60 Minutes program last night, told me she watched it this morning on On Demand. Just fyi