Anyone have a good recipe? Preferably Italian style?

Equilibrium~

You've made my day.

But. most of all I like the second recipe -- that is if I can substitute some of mine for the Orey tomatoes.

If it is an authentic recipe, it misses the first instruction:

"In primo luogo, rubi un coniglio."

The key to the recipe is "lardo".

Remember this (in the words of Emeril)

"Regole del grasso del porco"

And it should end with:

"Deve essere mangiato con vino fresco, preferibilmente chianti"

Remember: "Una cena senza vino, come un giorno senza il sole."

"Sia bene"


: )

Bam!

Kick it up a notch flyboyFL!

Equi~

Tell me

"amore della bella paese"

Were you born into it -- or did you acquire it?

: )

Acquired. I typed ricetta + coniglio into a search engine then read a few recipes that popped up and selected two that looked pretty good for you.

Regarding Bam and Kick it up a notch... also acquired. I was at a friend's house and saw him on tv once. I remembered he had some phrases that were unique to him so I went on line and typed in his name and up popped the Bam I remembered and the kick it up a notch. I tossed it in for effect because I've been slap happy lately.

Equi~

Slap-happy is much better than is being depressed.

But search engines will prove to be the end of civilization -- and knowledge -- as we know it. If and when the power fails we will all regress to the dark ages. Nobody willl know the times tables -- or spell recognizably -- or do square roots by hand. "O tempora, O mores"

Emiril was marvelous -- you could watch him, mindlessly. He seems to be running out of new stuff.

Be well

: )

(sigh) I am on my old computer right now because of issues with my new computer that was supposed to be bombproof to hardware failures and software/malware issues. I have nothing on this computer save Internet access and some old files that I never got around to wiping out. You have no idea how much I value my personal experiences and the books I have read around here right about now.

Now you know why I have been so slap happy lately. It's either that or day dream about killing the people who sold me that Raid mirror double hard drives at something like 600MB or maybe it was 1TB each with double 2.66 GHz processors, double motherboards that were allegedly RAID compatible that had driver incompatibility problems, 4GB Memory, 64 bit something or other, six internal fans with a 500MB external hard drive and all this other custom GARBAGE that cost me a left lung that had hardware failures that I obviously didn't need that is making me go absolutely bonkers. You are right, Slap-happy is much better than is being depressed over losing about 14000 photos. Should have gone with the Dell Precision and off site data storage.

Psst, I can still spell recognizably without my spell checker that was on the new computer! Time to go back outside and dig some more holes.

Got any recipes for that very thinly sliced eggplant parmesan? There's a recipe out there somewhere that doesn't use bread crumbs that I would like to get my hands on. The eggplant might be dipped in an egg batter of some sort. Eating always puts me in an even better mood than I am normally in.

Equi~

Talk about computer trauma -- you've got the right guy.

I am relatively ancient -- so i can go back in history. But I don't know much about bread-crumb-less melanzane. If G-d , in her wisdom, had ever made it taste as good as it looks, it would be the wonder plant. So we have to enhance its taste. That suits me.

But -- computers -- eccchhhh. We lost the world when Bill Gates rented us MS-DOS and later supplanted it with Windows. It's been downhill from there

In the real wiorld I was a Consulting Engineer and Landscape Architect.

My first computer was a dream. It came from Control Data. It looked like a big deep freezer -- with a Friden FlexoWriter on a stand beside it. (That was the input/output device.) It also had about a thousand tubes. The memory was a bakelite cylinder (like Edison's phonograph record). It had 64 tracks and 64 sectors -- cost a thousand dollars. (The memory.) It had a tape reader -- and took a couple of hours to load a program. If you turned it off for more than a minute, you had to let it cool down before starting again. (The heads on the memory had to back off so that they wouldn't score the drive.) It understood only machine language. Fortran or cobol, I think.

But. on the desk next to it I kept a working model abacus. It worked!!!!

Then came Wang, with its co-ordinate geometry programs that had a CRT -- but IBM with its Personal Computers soon made that extinct. And IBM made the mistake of letting Bill Gates design -- and retain ownership of -- MS-DOS. He became the king of the block !!!

Bill Gates. with his hidden penchant for financial success made it impossible to have any degree of permanence with equipment. Old programs ceased to be supported -- new equipment was required -- programs now comprised zillions of bits and bytes-- etcetera, etcetera.. Why one now needs to purchase and support a Boeing 707 in order to get across the street is a bewilderment.

We are all prisoners. When the electricity goes off, the world will effectively end. (Even batteries run down and expire.) Our minds will have been numbed-down, and our offspring know nothing but Google -- and the flashing keyboards.

Sad.

: )

Eggplant Parmesan

INGREDIENTS:
· 1 large eggplant, about 2 pounds
· 3/4 cup olive oil
· 2 cups cups canned tomato sauce
· 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
· 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
· 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
· 8 ounces shredded Mozzarella cheese

PREPARATION:
Peel eggplant and cut into 1/4-inch slices. Fry on both sides in skillet in hot oil until browned. Drain well on paper towels. Place a layer of eggplant slices in a shallow baking dish; cover with some tomato sauce, a sprinkling of basil and garlic powder, a little Parmesan cheese, and a little of Mozzarella cheese.

Thank you X! I'll try that! I could have sworn I remembered the taste of an egg batter of some sort but this works for me.

There are others .. just go to any search engine and type the following exactly:

+recipe +"eggplant parmesan" -"bread crumbs"

X

Now we're on a roll -- does anyone have a good recipe for SOS? That good 'ole stuff we ate in the army?

: )

Hey flyboy FL, I don't have a good recipe for SOS and I don't even know what it is but last weekend I served MREs (sp?) as a joke that I bought at the Army surplus store. I took dinner plates and placed their green plastic pouch on the plate and served it to them. I had every intention of cooking a real meal but the kids were totally excited about eating their #6, #19, # 4, and what ever other numbers were on those green plastic pouches. They work. They really heat up. They didn't use the tea or coffee that came with their meals or the mini tobasco sauces but they did chew the chicklets. They claimed their meals were Grrrrrrrrrreat! I was in shock. Never thought they'd have so much fun with a meal before. My husband and I sampled all the different foods and although we didn't think they were all that great, they were a lot better tasting than what we thought they would be.

How's that for a fun family meal!

I just learned something from X, "+recipe +"eggplant parmesan" -"bread crumbs"! I didn't know you could use the minus sign to narrow down a search in yahoo or google. That is way cool!

Here's what I found:
The trick to Eggplant Parmesan is to drain the eggplant slices of excess moisture first, before cooking. We found this recipe recently in the New York Times and adapted it to our taste (olive oil only - no canola oil, and no hard boiled egg slices as the original recipe called for).

2 lbs (about 2 large) eggplants
Kosher salt
1 28-oz can whole peeled tomatoes
1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
Olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
4 large eggs, beaten
1 1/2 lbs of fresh mozzarella cheese, sliced into 1/4 inch rounds
1 cup grated high quality Parmesan cheese
1 packed cup fresh basil leaves

1 Cut eggplants lengthwise into 1/4 inch slices. Arrange one layer in the bottom of a large colander and sprinkle evenly and generously with salt. Repeat with remaining eggplant, salting, until all eggplant is in the colander. Weigh down the slices with a couple of plates and let drain for 2 hours. The purpose of this step is to have the eggplant release some of its moisture before cooking.

2 While the eggplant is draining, prepare tomato sauce. Combine tomatoes, garlic and 1/3 cup olive oil in a food processor. Season with salt and pepper to tasted and set aside.

3 When eggplant has drained, press down on it to remove excess water, and lay the slices out on paper towels to remove all the moisture. In a wide, shallow bowl, combine flour and breadcrumbs. Mix well. Pour beaten eggs into another wide shallow bowl. Place a large, deep skillet over medium heat, and pour in a a half inch of olive oil. When oil is shimmering, dredge the eggplant slices first in the flour mixture, then in the beaten egg. Working in batches, slide coated eggplant into hot oil and fry until golden brown on both sides, turning once. Drain on paper towels.

4 Preheat the oven to 350°F. In the bottom of a 10x15 inch glass baking dish, spread 1 cup of tomato sauce. Top with one third of the eggplant slices. Top eggplant with half of the mozzarella slices. Sprinkle with one third of the Parmesan and half of the basil leaves.

5 Make a second layer of eggplant slices, topped by 1 cup of sauce, remaining mozzarella, half the remaining Parmesan, and all of the remaining basil. Add remaining eggplant, and top with the remaining tomato sauce and Parmesan.

6 Bake until cheese has melted and the top is slightly brown, about 30 minutes. Allow to rest at room temperature for about 10 minutes before serving.

Ta da! I think this might be the recipe I wanted. I had salmon and spinache for dinner tonight because it was easy but I'll pick up some eggplants and try this over the weekend.

Equi~

I'm for that -- about draining the eggplant, first.

I'm going to surprise my DDW next time we go food shopping, by putting a couple of eggplants into the wagon while she's not looking.

I'll pull these recipes off of the printer when she complains about not knowing what to do with them. You and Xeram~ are my unofficial "co-conspirators." Thanks.

And that was a fantastic idea with those Meals Ready to Eat. I understand that they also have "heaters" that are little pouches to which you just add water and the meal pouch -- and voila -- a hot entree.

Be well

: )

I must confess I bought all those meal pouches as a joke. I was at the surplus store looking to pick up camping supplies my husband had sent me out to hunt down and ran across them. I'm a silly Mom so I bought them. When I served their plates to them with the pouches, I was expecting a totally different reaction. More of a rolling of the eyes combined with complaints about having to eat food with dates on if from the year 2000.

Yes, they have some sort of a built in heater! Way cool in that when you add the water to your dehydrated entre, it really heats up. You can feel the heat generated by the outer sleeve pouch. The military, they think of everything! So will you be trying to get your hands on some of these pouches so you can treat your family to the ultimate dining experience too?

The story I heard was about the leader of this little country, short of food and desperate, decided that it would be a good idea to declare war upon the United States.

His theory was this -- "The United States will conquer us and bring in all this food and medicine and building material and bridges, and we would be saved."

He almost got his way, except for one of his old advisers -- who said, "But what if WE win?"

: )

I don't know who you are or why I've never run into you before but I wish I had sooner. You're fun and good for deep belly laughs.

Meant to ask you, what is SOS? That good old stuff you mentioned eating in the service?

Equi~

Thanks for the kind words. I am sure that we are somehow related. Remember that "six degrees of separation" bit. Is "Midwest" a town or a general location? I've been to Centralia.

SOS is the acronym for that soldier's best friend. "Creamed chipped beef on toast." Nobody, yes nobody, has ever been able to recapture that essence of the G-ds.

: )

And SOS = Sh*t on Shingles (save our souls!)

Ah ha ha! The culinary arts of the military coming to light.

Can't help you with a Creamed chipped beef on toast recipe but I'm sure if I go back to that Army surplus place I might find it labeled as #25 or something. Based on what bolino said, do you really want help finding a recipe for the SOS ;) And what exactly would toast taste like that's been in one of those little green pouches for eternity anyway?

Midwest stood for Illinois and Michigan.

This message was edited Jul 27, 2008 6:56 AM

Nah !!!

Midwest, IL fooled me

I am really a Bostonian. We gave up our ancestral home back there and settled in Florida. (Gives us a chance to vote early and often -- as we were wont to do back in Massachusetts.) We summer up here in the frozen tundra of Princeton (although it hasn't been so frozen these past few years). We're here, because "here" is near to where the remants of our family have settled. We don't have "40's", all we have now are "lots".

We are, I must admit, much older. We now talk about the doings of our great-grandson.

Be well

: )

Gardening transcends age barriers.

This message was edited Jul 27, 2008 7:00 AM

Who really gives a about China's Wal-Mart and the distance to get to it?

flyboyFL's on vacation for a bit LostIndian.

Nah~

I am just at a further computer.

Do they really have WalMarts in China.

Who makes their products?

Mexico?

: )

A farther computer! You're supposed to be out and about and not on another computer!

We're going up north on Monday. Even if we did have a computer up there, the dial up would probably leave me spitting BBs at the monitor.

Yes, they even have Super WalMarts over there. Their WalMarts carry (uh hum) a lot more than ours do and I'll just leave it at that.

One has to rest up a little. It's gorgeous here in the Big City -- mid-seventies, no humidity, no rabbits.

At least the chinese WalMarts don't have to import all their products. Wonder who checks for lead paint..

You going to the Upper Peninsula? Do they have electricity up there? Must be fantastic weather.

: )

Yes, we have electricity up there and we don't have a party phone line any more which is really nice. We were two rings in the not so distant past. An added bonus is that the house now has a whole bathroom with an inside flush toilet! Complete with a bathtub and a sink to brush your teeth. Yay! No more bathing in the big kitchen sink and running outside to share an outhouse with spiders!

Bet you're jealous I'm going to be in the UP what with a new flush toilet and all! And yes, it's raining up there today but the weather is supposed to be beautiful all of next week.

Golly gee:

Civilization has come to ther UP!!

Do Iron Mountain and Amasa mean anything to you? I remember them from my military days.

:)

There are days I have mixed emotions about the party line but the indoor bathroom is really nice.

The Veteran's Hospital is in Iron Mountain. Some nice ski slopes there and several with quite a few black diamond runs. They also have some nice jumps if you're into that deal. Iron Mountain is a nice town. Amasa is just a town to me. I know where it is but that's about it.

In the dim past i remember knowing a young lady from that area. Long, long, long ago.

: )

Hmmm, did you per chance happen to marry that young lady from that area ;)

Nope.

Knew her from my days in Milwaukee. Long, long, long ago.

Good luck on your vacation.

: )

It'll be fun. It's always an adventure up there. I'm meeting up with a couple from DG for a day and we're going to explore some pristine acid and quaking bogs in the local vicinity right after I dump my kids on relatives.

You enjoy the Big Apple now ya hear!

Be back in a few weeks.