liz100's Profile

I have the zojirushi and I love it! I can even make mochi from glutinous rice in it.

Been pescatarian for the past 8 years, before that I was veg (not vegan) from age 15. When I first became a vegetarian, my thought was not to cook meat/fish/seafood. Then the holidays came. My mother usually hosts holiday dinners and it is something I've always helped her with (at 15 I was a far better cook than most adults). I couldn't leave all that work to my mother, so the "I will never cook meat" went out the window (my meat eating sister at the time was pretty useless in the kitchen and Dad tries but he's somewhat limited in the kitchen). One Christmas Eve I ended up shucking 6 dozen oysters the fish store sent by mistake (We ordered SIX oysters) because I was able to do it.
My husband is not veg. I do cook meat for him and for others. I made Ribs for his birthday party, it was his birthday party so only having veg food would have been weird, he's not veg. I barbeque very well, so I often end up at the grill when we have family gatherings. Somehow, I can cook meat very well even though I don't taste meat dishes as I cook. I guess for me it was a question of putting family relationships first, once I started helping my mother, it became a nonissue.

I'm not fine with killing animals so I don't eat them. I fall into the "if you won't kill it, don't eat it" camp. I don't eat meat, but I will eat seafood. I have no problem opening clams and oysters, so I eat those. I kill most bugs without much thought, so I will eat lobster and crab (Thank you Alton Brown for explaining that a lobster is akin to a giant sea cockroach!). I try to avoid farmed fish because it is an ecological nightmare, not to mention very bad conditions for the fish. I buy vegetarian cage free eggs, but I'd love to get to the point where I could raise my own chickens so I could be sure they were cared for. Not going to happen in a Brooklyn condo, though. I do have issues with the slaughter of male chicks inherent in our egg production system, so I realize there is a lot of cruelty in egg consumption, I'm still working that out. I've had pet rabbits for over 20 years, so in my mind they're companions, not dinner. I've never heard a good explanation for why it is OK to eat a pig, but not a dog or cat, even though pigs are more intelligent than both, or to eat a cow, but not a horse.
As far as making sure animals have good lives with no fear or pain up until slaughter, there is no way we could have the quantity of meat consumed in the US if those types of practices were widely adopted. Meat would become a luxury, not a staple. I'd rather animals not be brought into the world if their only fate is to eat, stand around in crates, cages or stall for the overwhelming majority (if not entirety) of their lives just so they can end up being slaughtered. I don't see how an animal has any enjoyment in their life under these conditions, regardless of how well they're treated throughout the process.

If your neigbor is willing to let you treat the tree, and you're willing to spend the time, check out www.gardensalive.com. they have the best organic products. We had an old apple tree that was producing the ugliest, runtiest, infested apples. No one had done anythign to it in 20 years. We started using the recommended combination of products from gardens alive and the following year got a harvest of huge, perfect, rot and insect free apples.

Hmmm. It is one thing to meet the animal and see it blissfully happy while it is unaware of its fate. But how many people could watch the actual slaughter and still feel like they're eating "happy meat"? I'd like someone to explain what "humanely killed" means. I can't imagine any slaughter method, from throat sliting, electrical stunning or the old ballpeen hammer to the cranium stunning that I would consider remotely humane. I find a lot of the "meet your meat" movement as a way for meat eaters who are on some level uncomfortable with eating meat to ease their discomfort so they can continue to eat meat. Focusing on how the animals lived is a way to avoid focusing on the fact that they are then slaughtered. In the end something died, rather painfully and often terror-stricken, for your pleasure.

I've been making cucumber juice all summer for cucumber gimlets (hendricks, cucumber juice, lime juice and St. Germain or a little superfine sugar. I put mine through a chinoise to get the pulp out, but we did the cheesecloth method at my parents' house and it worked just fine. To make it less bitter 1) use persian or mini cucumbers or 2) don't blend the seeds. Scoop out the pulp in the middle and squeeze it by hand. The seeds are what carried most of the bitterness.

I haven't done this yet, but I thought of using the pulp as a base for a salad dressing or mashing it into cream cheese for lox and bagels

Our family has accused us of ruining their kids because we invited all the children to our wedding. One reason we did that was because many prople were traveling from out of town and we knew how hard it would be for them to find child care. part of it also was wanting to see these children who are spread out all over the country. It was a def acto family reunion. Our wedding was in the afternoon, outdoors under a tent at a B&B in the country so the kids weren't stuck in a ballroom or up way past their bedtime. kids under 5 were seated with their parents, 6 and up were at a huge kids' table. Two of my sister's friends from her special ed. masters program were the "chaperones" for the table. We hit the dollar stores and purchased a small game/toy for each child which was waiting for them at their seat. We had a photo booth the kids took full advantage of. The kids tore up the dance floor. We had a kids' meal of a fruit cup, chicken fingers, fries and veggies. All the kids still talk about our wedding as one of the best times they've ever had. Their parents were able to have their kids at the wedding but still kick back and enjoy themselves because the kids were fully occupied.

Wonk doesn't have the Stillwell on display in DUMBO, they have the Lowrider (I think that's the name), which is pretty much the same design without the storage. We just ordered the Stillwell (the Knickerbocker is cool, just to square for my taste) in the carbonized bamboo and now we're just waiting for it to come in. We were so much happier supporting a local Brooklyn business whose quality blows away Bo Concept/West Elm without being any more expensive.