17 posts tagged “qotd”

Who's the coolest culinary celebrity?

Ina Gartner - The Barefoot Contessa. (She reminds me of my Mom.)   She doesn't try to be hip, but she's an accomplished chef who creates a series of recipes that are not only easy to follow for both amateur and experienced cooks, but her methodology is similar to the way that I cook.  Quite similar, in many ways, to Julia Child...that absolute measurements aren't really required for a lot of things, that it's better to feel and taste your way through the entire experience.  Obviously, measurements are important for some things, but for many others, "pinch", "handful", "to  taste" are perfectly valid.

In that same vein, I adore Jamie Oliver.  His recipes are innovative, interesting, and best of all, incorporate an extraordinary amount of fresh and seasonal product.  My only issue is that he talks so fast, that even having lived in London, and dating Cambridge men, I find myself having to back the TiVo up to figure out what he just said. 

Rachael Ray is cute, and some of her recipes are great...but she's just too over exposed and I'm tired of her.  Chef Ramsey...whom I adore watching scream at hapless wannabe chefs...I've never seen cook.  I'm not sure he knows how.  

I adore Alton Brown, but he's not really a chef. He's great fun, and a fabulous intro into the foodie world for those that might be intimidated by the Larousse Gastronomique. In fact, a great deal of the American TV cooks aren't actually chefs, which is fine...except when those people are called "Chef".  That just annoys me, because I know how hard my mother worked to become a Master Chef.  

Have you ever served on a jury?  What was your experience?
Submitted by jacolily.

I was called and answered the summons.  When put on the stand to be questioned by the attorneys, the first question they asked was if I had been to university.  Then they asked about degrees.  Then they asked focus.  Then they sent me home. 

I'm guessing that over educated people with degrees in philosophy and english aren't allowed to be jury members.  Now, how college educated people are supposed to get a jury of their peers if they automatically dismiss educated juror candidates is beyond me. 

Who taught you how to cook?
Submitted by Donna.

I learned an enormous amount from my mother, who is a Master Chef. She and I cook in different styles and cuisines as a rule, but the core knowledge of knives and blending, and prep and timing...those are all things I learned from her.  She's amazing in the kitchen.

I use my grandmother's first edition Joy of Cooking as my kitchen bible.  Need to know how to cut up a cow?  It's in there.  Need to know how to build a brick barbecue to cook said cow?  It's in there too.  Creme Brulee, Yorkshire Pudding,  roasted anything that once breathed, it's all in there.  If I had to only have one cookbook, instead of the 6 shelves of cookbooks I have, it would absolutely be the ancient Joy of Cooking. 

I've also learned some really fabulous tricks by watching the Barefoot Contessa on the Food Network. Some of the dishes she makes seem like they'd be intimidating, but once you see her do it, it's really easy to duplicate.  I Tivo her show, because inevitably she'll have one recipe per show that will go into my rotation. 

What's one thing you regret not doing? 
Submitted by Mr. Nice.

Telling someone I loved them.  He died before I could tell him.  I'll carry those untold words for the rest of my life. 

What would the title of your autobiography be?
Submitted by princesskasren.

"I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't been there, either." 

It's a long, strange, trip I've been on, I tell you what. :)

Which cartoon character best represents you? 
Submitted by Know It All.

Heh...probably Slappy the Squirrel.  ;)  Not that I'm an octogenarian, mind you...but I do resonate with the cranky and the commentary. Plus, she's a speed demon in a red sport scar, and she drops anvils on those who annoy her.  If only I had anvils...

Which of your five senses (touch, taste, sight, hearing, or smell) do you value the most?
Submitted by Elisheva.

All of them!  To not be able to feel the soft skin of my son's face, or the gentle curve of my husband's back would be torture.  And taste:  without chocolate and coffee, well...I'm not sure I could survive.  I think I may, in fact, be an Arabica-Cocoa based life form.  Sight...well, that's a pretty groovy one, and I've been known to spend hours sitting on the floor of museums staring at art, hoping to somehow drink it all in, because sometimes...it's just so magnificent, it's like I can't see it all at once, it has to be appreciated slowly.  Imagine never hearing Bach or Handel or Guns and Roses. I love music, almost all music.  I like the music of my ducks quacking in the pond, kept in time by bullfrogs and cicadas.  I love the song the leaves of my cottonwood sing, as they rustle like a waterfall.  Yes, I'm even entranced by the music of the suburbs.  ;)  And smell, well...I'd be a failure as an aroma formulator if I couldn't smell anything. :) 

What are 5 things you'd like to accomplish in the next 5 years?

1.  Live through them
2.  Grow Soapy Hollow
3.  Grow my Boy
4.  Find the floor...I'm sure it's here somewhere.
5.  Take over the world; my legion of specially trained zombies fanning out across the country and "detaining" everyone who signed the Patriot Act, The Terror Bill and everything in between.  Also, anyone with one of those stupid ribbon magnets;  Zombie food.  Bush/Cheney bumper stickers; Zombie Food.  Creationists; Zombie Food.  Rapturites;  tasty, tasty Zombie food.  Theocrats, clinic bombers, neocons, skinheads, morons, idiots and people who annoy me; So Much Zombie Food...so few zombies. 

Let's make a list.  What are 20 things in your life that you're grateful for? 
Inspired by wyndslash.vox.com.

In no particular order:

1.) my husband

2.) my son

3.) the rest of the loonies related to me

4.) my friends

5.) Darvon

6.) Modern medicine (yes, I know Darvon is a result of modern medicine...but considering the sheer volume of darvon it takes to get me through the day right now...it deserves it's own category.)

7.) My Biker-size guardian angels...cause having them is the only way I could possibly have lived this long, considering my ill-spent youth.

8.) My ill spent youth. :)

9.) My brains.  (Braaaaains! Braaaaaaaaaaains!)

10. Technology

11.) The intarweb...even the 2.0 part

12.) France - thanks for the booze and the food and the art and culture and all that.  Annoyed by the fashionistas...but the cognac makes up for it.

13.) Cervantes, Homer, the Eddas and all the other literature ever written

14.) My critters (which, if the list were in order, would probably be way higher, simply because I have a 10 pound cat sitting on my head, and she's got 5 pointy ends, doncha know.)

15.) Greece - because I like knowing it's there for me.  And someday, I shall go to it, and I shall never leave.  Baklava for everyone!

16.) Chocolate.  How women survived PMS without chocolate, I'll never know.  Those were indeed the Dark Ages. 

17.)  My body.  It may be short and sort of round, and it hurts a whole lot, but it usually does what I want it to do, even if it is under protest.

18.) The printing press.  Knowledge to the people!

19.) Free Will

20.)  My life in general.  It's been a good run so far.  A little weird, a little messy, and with a few bodies along the way...but overall, it's good to be me. 

What time period would you have lived in, if you could have lived at any time?

Atlantis   (Hey, if we're imagining things, I'm going big.) 

Ancient Greece might have been fun, assuming a certain level of wealth, but probably not so much otherwise.  I love the Victorian and Edwardian periods, but I'm not sure I could *be* that polite, if of one class, nor willing to die that young, if of another. 

So the blissful utopia of missing Atlantis, for me please.