StephanieL

Ah, cold borscht on a hot day!

Years ago, I went on a food walking tour of East Williamsburg, and one of their stops was Tedone Latticini, where Georgie Tedone DiPalma, the "Mozzarella Lady", had been making mozzarella at her family's store for literally decades. She made some right in front of us, and she advised/warned us that we'd have to eat it that day or it wouldn't be good anymore. She's long since passed away.

If it's the one in South Africa I'm thinking of, it's definitely real.

The HBO documentary Pee-wee As Himself. I've never actually watched any of the Pee-wee Herman movies or TV show episodes, so it's been interesting to learn about the history and to see all of the avant-garde arty stuff Paul Reubens was up to in the 70s.

Dad made 5 cheesecakes for the synagogue. I think he's sick of cheesecake now.

I was pleasantly surprised by the lightness of this yeast-based blueberry streusel cake, even though it didn't rise as high as I thought it would. All the blueberries (2 cups!) came from our garden.

In that vein: Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Tucson.

My mother had (and may still have) the Lee Su Jan cookbook! I think she got it after taking a cooking class.

Tricolor gnocchi with fava beans, ricotta, arugula, and fresh herbs. A trip to a local ice cream shop for dessert.

The herb pie mentioned in the Dingbat of the Day thread (recipe from Jerusalem), plus RG's Raw Zucchini Salad with Flageolets and Basil. My friends brought a strawberry cake and a big bowl of whipped cream for dessert.

I'd read about this years ago, but had never seen it. Proof that the silent era could be really nuts:

We were having 2 friends over for dinner yesterday and I was planning to make a pie using phyllo dough. N said I can work directly from frozen. Turns out there are 2 types of frozen phyllo dough: the kind you can use directly from the freezer (flat) and the kind you need to thaw out for several hours (rolled). Guess which one I'd bought. N put together a very quick rough puff pastry, which only sort of saved the day.

Which restaurant?

I had no idea he was Jason Sudeikis' uncle, but I can totally see the family resemblance now.

I made Italian meringue for the first time last night. The process was a little nerve-wracking, but it came out beautifully.

And those giant eyeglasses!

It is with a heavy heart that I have to report that former MFer Cristina Potters died last night. She had been in poor health for a long time. Many of you longtime folk remember all of her wonderful posts about Mexico and Mexican cooking. When N had a conference in Mexico City in 2009, she gave us a tour of the Blue House and took us around the market in Coyoacan, where we had tortillas literally fresh off the press and amazing pozole at her favorite stand. RIP Cristina. You will be deeply missed.

I made jambalaya this evening, using the recipe from Toni Tipton-Martin's Jubilee. I substituted the Spanish chorizo I had in the pantry for andouille, and bacon for the salt pork. The rice part was Anson Mills Carolina Gold. There were lots of steps and components, but I think it came out pretty well.

When N was still making sourdough regularly, my favorite use of discard was KAF's triple-chocolate sourdough waffles.

Roasted carrots with cumin, topped with a Middle Eastern-spiced ground beef mixture, halved cherry tomatoes, and garlic-tahini sauce.

Tell that to those Italians. 😉

Samsung pushed an OS update to my phone, and now I have to learn where everything is all over again.

N has made gribenes when she's cooked a whole chicken.

Say goodnight to Gladys.

I saw her at Coney Island High way back when, for a Pride-related concert.