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Allietex
Member
08-16-2002
| Friday, January 05, 2007 - 1:58 pm
That sounds great, Maris. Only problem is that I do not care for caviar or champagne. Woe is me. Of course I also thought about the old pictures of harem girls feeding grapes to the hero. Problem here is that you don't have to cook grapes. LOL
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Gemma120in2002
Member
07-05-2003
| Friday, January 05, 2007 - 2:06 pm
LOL! use the little tiny champagne grapes and put them on toasted brioche with mascarpone creme and call it caviar of the vine! Marcel won with his watermelon steak, you could win with grape caviar! Add a chiffonade of mint and a light drizzle of balsamic glaze and you are golden!
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Allietex
Member
08-16-2002
| Friday, January 05, 2007 - 2:19 pm
Wow! I don't know what half of that stuff is, Gemma, but it sounds really good. That is why you are a chef and I am just the family cook. LOL
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Gemma120in2002
Member
07-05-2003
| Friday, January 05, 2007 - 2:31 pm
Don't sell yourself short! Julia Child was a family cook! Mascarpone is the sweet (some say tasteless) cream cheese used in italian desserts. If you've eaten cannoli you've eaten it. The champagne grapes taste just like other grapes, they just look like the whole bunch of grapes is immature. Chiffonade is a super thin slice of something. Take a few leaves of spinach or mint or anything, put them one on top of the other and then roll them in a tube so the stems are sticking out one end and the point is at the other. Then take a sharp knife and slice the leaves accross the tube as thinly as possible. That makes very fine shreds of the leaves and lets as much flavor as possible come out of them. If you use a very sharp knife, the leaves won't turn black. balsamic glaze is made from very old balsamic vinegar. The really good stuff gets thick and syrupy over time in the barrel. The cheaper stuff gets simmered down in a sauce pan to thicken and get sweeter. Being a family cook is something to enjoy and be proud of.
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Gemma120in2002
Member
07-05-2003
| Friday, January 05, 2007 - 2:39 pm
Julia Child went to Le Cordon Bleu and she cooked with many amazing chefs. She had a vast amount of knowledge and a great amount of skill. She is someone to be admired and used as a role model. She was a family cook, and an author, and a teacher, and a writer, and a cooking show host. She was amazing and so very accomplished. It's mind boggling to actually look at all she accomplished in her life.
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Maris
Member
03-28-2002
| Friday, January 05, 2007 - 2:45 pm
and she was a spy, brilliant woman.
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Allietex
Member
08-16-2002
| Friday, January 05, 2007 - 2:48 pm
I have always loved to cook. I have pretty much stuck to "plain fare" over the years, mostly because I was just not aware of "fine dining." I am pretty good at what I do cook. I have a neice and nephew who stayed with me for several months after Katrina. He is an excellant cook and I learned a lot from him and developed an interest in broadening my horizons. However, since I live alone, and am on a very strict diet right now, it is not much fun to cook just for myself. But I have tried out a few new things and really enjoy it. I have enjoyed watching this show because I learn something new every time I watch.
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Allietex
Member
08-16-2002
| Friday, January 05, 2007 - 2:50 pm
LOL, I actually made homemade cranberry sauce for Christmas after watching him make it for Thanksgiving. I am doomed now, because I will never be satisfied with the canned stuff again. LOL
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Costacat
Member
07-15-2000
| Friday, January 05, 2007 - 4:20 pm
I was chatting with a friend the other day, who lives in Australia. She was describing their holiday dinner, and I said to remind me to send her my spiced cranberry sauce recipe. Her reply? "Er, don't bother. We don't get fresh cranberries down here!" OMG!!! They HAVE to have the canned stuff!!!! Since I started making my own cranberry sauce (years ago), I've never looked back. Allie, I live alone, and always cook alone. In fact, everyone in the family calls me the gourmet chef. I cook quite often for myself. Many recipes can be cut in half, or I'll cook whatever and freeze it for future use. Even with a strict diet, there's lots of creative things you can do. I'm a vegetarian, but I'll still make lots of recipes that call for meat. I'll substitute portabello mushrooms (for sliced meat). Or maybe soy crumbles. Or just a hodgepodge of various different veggies in place of the meat. Sometimes you've got to be creative, but if you know what you kinda sorta want, you can usually get there somehow with other ingredients. 
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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Friday, January 05, 2007 - 5:24 pm
Methinks a couple or three of you should be applying for this show! Built in fan base too.. Oh and I was thinking.. we all clearly missed this show and having a new episode was, ummm, delicious!
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Gemma120in2002
Member
07-05-2003
| Friday, January 05, 2007 - 5:36 pm
Seamonkey you are so right! I thoroughly enjoyed every morsel of this show! About applying for the show, um... NO! What if I got on the darned thing? Then I'd have to read people saying things like "Who stuck a spatula up her butt?" LOL! I may have to read that without going on a reality show!
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Konamouse
Member
07-16-2001
| Friday, January 05, 2007 - 8:11 pm
and for the last course. with marcel insisting on a dessert, i would have figure out how to make a cheese/fruit plate represent gluttony. i think the judges would have loved a cheese plate at the end of all that. 'squeek'
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Costacat
Member
07-15-2000
| Friday, January 05, 2007 - 8:44 pm
Good point, too, Kona. The two men just hadda do that male thing... stand ground and tangle horns till someone gives up or dies. <sigh> As good as I am in the kitchen, that is not what I want to do with my life. So I'm more than happy to let those who wanna be there apply for the show! 
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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Friday, January 05, 2007 - 10:22 pm
I know but you would both be so entertaining and you might win that kitchen or whatever..
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Alisons
Member
01-10-2003
| Saturday, January 06, 2007 - 5:06 am
I have been trying to convince two of my local friends to go on the show. One is Eduardo Faubert, who is the owner and chef of my favorite restaurant, The Jasmine Cafe at Lake Anne in Reston, VA. The other is Mary Ann Svec, who is married to my friend Tom Mirabello. She was an associate food editor at Good Housekeeping prior to her marriage to Tom. I am not sure where Eduardo got his training, but Mary Ann was the top pastry chef graduate her year at CIA. I think either one of them would totally kick butt on this show. Of course, I would love to see our Gemma on this also - Gemma, I promise that we will not allow anyone to make rude online comments at TV Clubhouse if you go on. It will be Gemma all the way! Or Costacat! I don't want to leave you out! As far as Marcel goes, I totally agree with Gemma. However I do think that the stress is wearing on all of them at this point and is adding to the bad behavior.
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Gemma120in2002
Member
07-05-2003
| Saturday, January 06, 2007 - 7:32 am
Kona, that would have been perfect! LOL! I think the judges would have loved it, and the guests at the dinner party would have been surprised just like Tony Bourdain and Tom Colicchio were during the Thanksgiving dinner. Cheese platters with membrillo (quince paste), Medjool dates, sprigs of rosemary, pecan brittle and sliced pears for the gluttony thing. Starting from mildest to strongest cheese working clockwise around the plate, what cheeses would you like? I'd want to finish with Cashel blue cheese. Maybe start with a tripple cream d'affinoise? What are your favorites?
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Alisons
Member
01-10-2003
| Sunday, January 07, 2007 - 4:41 am
I don't really like cheese all that much. Brie, Camembert, Mozzarella, Monterey Jack, Muenster, Havarti. That is it for me, only the mild stuff. I do like a Bleu Cheese dressing, but only the more mild ones. I could never just eat Bleu Cheese. I dislike the trend of putting Gorgonzola on everything as I do not like that cheese very much. Ditto Asiago. I do use the grated cheeses on Italian dishes but greatly prefer Romano to Parmesan.
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Lilfair
Member
07-09-2003
| Sunday, January 07, 2007 - 7:40 am
Gemma, I had a formal 5 course holiday dinner for 2 couples/friends. They raved about the cheese plate. I had 4 cheeses, hazelnuts, and dried sweet cherries (at the time I didn’t know that cheeries lowered your libido ;0). I used robiola (sp) which is a cows cheese mild and creamy next on the plate was montgomery cheddar from England hard and mildly nutty, penazul from Spain it’s a crumbly tangy sharp blue and ended with a nutty brebilu from Italy. I can’t take credit for the choices. I have a really good relationship with the people at my wine and cheese shop. Most people really enjoy cheeses and find it a splurge tp their taste buds. I can eat cheese all day long.
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Texannie
Member
07-16-2001
| Sunday, January 07, 2007 - 9:31 am
I enjoy cheese, but have never cared for the cheese course after the meal and before dessert.
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Costacat
Member
07-15-2000
| Sunday, January 07, 2007 - 10:11 am
I'm not sure I'd consider a cheese plate a "gluttony" thing. As a vegetarian, with two cheese shops nearby, I eat various different cheese all of the time. And almost always buy the cheeses whenever we have wine/cheese parties (I'll let folks know what I'm getting, so they can pair the fruits, wines, and chocolates with the cheeses). At any rate, I think of cheese plates as "tastings" rather than "gluttony." I also have found that I prefer almost all cheeses made from sheep or goat milk to that made from cow. A good example is feta cheese... here in the States, feta is made from cow's milk. It's very tangy and too salty. In Greece, you'll find feta made from sheep's milk. It's milder, softer, and not salty at all. I buy only French or Israeli feta cheese these days. I do variations of mac 'n cheese all of the time, with different cheeses/combinations. One of my favorites was with Mahon, gruyere, and Grafton Gold cheddar, with porcini and portabello mushrooms. Very lush, very earthy, great flavors. When I think of "gluttony" I think of King Henry VIII. Pictures of him sitting at the head of the table, waving a giant turkey leg with one hand and digging into a platter of fish with another bring to mind gluttony. Total overindulgence. So in that respect, I might've gone with an over-the-top display -- a LOT of food!!! Ilan could've done a first course with an overabundance of one item. Even though there were more courses to come, an extravagant serving would've been impressive (and no, the guests do NOT have to eat every bite! <grin>).
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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Sunday, January 07, 2007 - 12:53 pm
Or the eating scenes in Tom Jones..
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Gemma120in2002
Member
07-05-2003
| Sunday, January 07, 2007 - 1:02 pm
I think of King Henry VIII with the turkey leg too! LOL! And the 6 wives he went through! I think an oversized first course would have been a very good representation of gluttony. I love discussing things like this with other people. You all make me think outside my little box. I was reading the blogs on the Top Chef site and one of the people who posted a comment has her own blog about dining. I followed the links to the different restaurants she had gone to in NYC and found there is a restaurant called Max Brenner's Chocolate by the Bald Man. They serve hot chocolate in something they call hug mugs. They are large teardrop shaped mugs with a spout corner to drink from. You are supposed to hug the mug with your hands to warm them http://bp0.blogger.com/_IJeoYk6B0Qc/RXSXiyx3vhI/AAAAAAAAAAk/izLsk-YNcSw/s1600-h/hugmug.jpg (I know, it kind of looks like a bed pan doesn't it?) It immediately made me think of Betty's dish. She should have taken her dish down to one amazing soup and made a cracker to go with it. Spoon-shaped crackers would have been ideal. She could have also served them in white coffee mugs.
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Teachmichigan
Member
07-22-2001
| Sunday, January 07, 2007 - 2:38 pm
That mug looks like an invitation to dribble hot chocolate down whatever light-colored shirt I'm wearing at the time!
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Costacat
Member
07-15-2000
| Sunday, January 07, 2007 - 4:25 pm
Gak. It's so nice and warm here today, hot chocolate doesn't even SOUND good. Although I know the "mug hug." I do it all the time, and expect I'll be doing it a lot next week (I'll be in the Salt Lake City area all week next week. Brrr... (Right now, it's a balmy 77 degrees. And yes, it's 3:30 pm!) Right now in Draper Utah, it's 25 degrees, and... AND... FEELS LIKE 17 DEGREES!!!!! I expect to be doing the mug hug at every opportunity next week!)
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Gemma120in2002
Member
07-05-2003
| Sunday, January 07, 2007 - 4:47 pm
Right now it's 41 degrees! It's raining and the temperature is dropping like a rock. It's going to go to about 28 degrees and then we're supposed to hit 17 degrees by Thursday! NOOOO! Well, at least all this odd weather hasn't made my lilacs bloom too early! Today I made a roasted veggie and tomato soup with garlic. My heavy cream went bad, so I threw the alfredo sauce I had left over from last night's pasta into it. I had some fat-free half and half that was bought by accident and I put some of it in too. I pureed it with my stick blender, but I did NOT put it through a china cap, a chinois or anything! We ate it dregs and all! LOL! Lots of mug hugging around here today!
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